The Flying Dogs of Jupiter was a band formed some time around 1974 in Westfield New Jersey.
It was a real jam band that stretched way out and played everything from Chuck Berry, to Captain Beafheart, the Fugs, Commander Cody, the New Riders, the Dead, the Doors and long very spaced-out jams that could go anywhere(including feedback and noise), plus a bunch of original songs.
The original members were:
Alan Grigg- guitar and vocals
Lamont B. Dumont- vocals and percussion (Chris Szeliga)
Curt Hansen- bass
Ed Tristram- guitar and vocals
Steve Horowitz-Drums
They released one self-produced 33rpm LP album (a.k.a. a record) on their own record label called 'Jovian Records' in 1975 titled "American Dream" and played numerous live shows in and around New Jersey.
This record is showing up on eBay for ridiculous sums. ($150 buy- it- now price in Feb. '08)
Later on they added Lenny Northover on sax and flute. Eventually, Phil Clayton joined on guitar after Tristram left. By the end of '77 the band fell apart after investing alot of money in equipment, studio time and promo. A really good 4 song recording of original music got some interest but was never released. Two test records were cut and several cassette copies made.
We had a lot of fun with the Dogs, I can assure you. At the time there was no 'jam band' scene so we created our own.
The musicians may have played the instruments but the 'band' really included many more people who influenced the music and were a big part of the creative process. The 'crew', Bob, Tom and Paul; were always there from the start. They know more about the band than anyone else and went on to form their own band 'The Spuds'.
Alan was the one who wrote and arranged most of the original music. We started the band in his parents' basement.
Chris was the front man, jokester, musicologist and wrote many of the lyrics.
I was the bass player and built alot of speaker cabinets for our sound system. At the beginning, I was also studying electrical engineering (before dropping out to pursue music full-time). I had the van to haul the band gear around, too.
Tristram had actually lived in San Francisco for awhile in the late sixties. The Dogs were heavily influenced by the psychedelic scene that came out of California.
He wrote songs and filled in the gaps. He had a kid and his own place and was a college grad while the rest of us were only a few years out of high school.
After Steve joined, we used to rehearse at his parents' house in Hillside which was right across the street from the police station. They must have liked the music because they never came over to arrest us.
The details are fuzzy and I don't remember alot from that period but I'm hoping that some of the people involved will participate in this project and share some tales (tall or otherwise) to jog our collective recollections. Send me your images, recordings and stories from the dog daze. If I get enough material we can put together a real website.
Click on 'comments' below and leave a comment.
My best band in my world!
ReplyDeleteIs that you , Steve?
ReplyDeleteSo much talent and energy, I often wonder what the Hell happened? I think we got a lot of things right and a few important things wrong. Our timing sucked, (I don't mean on-stage, Steve). We were playing a lot of originals. The covers, besides the excess of Grateful Dead, included Motown, British Invasion, old Blues, and what today might be called alt-country.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was that in the mid-70's a band had to play Country-Flavored Pop, Southern Rock, Glam Rock, Disco or Top 40 if they wanted to work. (Did I miss any significant mid-70's genres? If so, we didn't play any of that crap either.) The Punk scene and other forms of DIY music hadn't really crossed the Hudson yet. The rest of the world wasn't quite ready for what we were into, but they would be soon. The first time I heard Van Halen covering "You Really Got Me" (which spent some time on the Dogs set list) I knew that if we had been able to hold it together a few more years, we might have found an audience beyond the student body of Ramapo College.
(This was also in the days before The Dead went mainstream, so they hadn't achieved any real popularity, either.)
I think another thing I'd change, if I knew then what I know now, was the record. We thought of ourselves as Serious Artists, and in that era, Serious Artists made LP's. Singles were the provence of Top 40 Bubblegum Bands and television actors laboring under the misapprehension that they could sing.
The problem was the budget; for the money we had, we could have made one or two really good singles instead of a mediocre album. Singles would have been a better tool for promoting ourselves with venues. A club owner will give you 3-4 minutes to listen to a single, but do you really think he has the time to listen to your whole album?
A few years later, every self-produced band was making singles, EPs for those with more spare cash. The "single stigma" was history.
My final deconstruction for today is that I would have been a bit more conscious of my role. I know now that I was applying for the wrong job. I was applying for "Artist", when all of the available openings were for "Entertainer". I should have realized that all of those girls who came up to me between sets and asked if we played any (fill in the blank) were expressing interest in our band. In hingsight, I probably shouldn't have insulted their favorite bands. I should have lied; "We don't know any Shaun Cassidy, but I'll talk to the guys and maybe we can learn some for the next time we come back here."
Maybe then we would have had more chances to go back there.
The 2100 hundred you see in that picture just died on me for the last time a year or so ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Dual Showman in the Picture is still going strong and now sounds better then it has for years thanks to a guy that Lamont found. By the way I still have one of the Sunn bottoms with the two JBL 15's.
Don't throw away that Mac! The parts are valuable. They still sell replacement parts for every product they've ever made, too! My 2100 was stolen in California. It might have been the one in the photo.
ReplyDeleteI also felt really bad about missing the opportunity to take the band further. We should have just taken a break for awhile like the Stones instead of breaking up like the Beatles.
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced we would have been very successful on the jamband circuit. But success may have been unhealthy in terms of our personal lives. We'll never know. but we're all still alive and relatively sane.
As many of you know, Al Grigg has reformed the band and we are busier than ever playing gigs, a tribute to the old and new Dogs. The current line -up includes original guitar and vocalists Al and Ed Tristam, Jeff Taylor on bass and Frank Kaiser on guitar and pedal steel from the old Temperance Hall, and newcomers Su Polo guitar and vocals and Greta Tristam on harmonica. The group plays the original Dog staples American Dream, Another Man Done Gone, Open Road and Shop Around along with several new songs written by Al and Ed plus 100's of songs from our many years of collaboration in other bands and just great songs from great songwriters (i.e. "oldies"). On a personal note, I am pursuing this endeavor with a sense of honor to replace Curt Hansen on bass and only hope to live up to his ideals. BTW, its a whole new era, we are onto all new gear, light weight plastic stuff, small combo amps and acoustic guitars for most gigs, but we still go all out electric on occasion. The Dogs have been re-born and live on....thanks to Al for all his effort since his return from Jupiter....Jeff Taylor
ReplyDeleteAs for drummers, we use Gary Mazza and others when one is needed. So far most gigs have been Flying Dogs Lyte without drums...here's a sample:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpW7UI22Kno
As of Summer 2011, the FDOJ continue onward playing many venues in and around NYC. Fred Peterson from Morristown has joined as full time drummer (found from an ad on a bulletin board at the local Sam Ash store, sound familiar?)and most gigs are now all out rock'n'roll in the true Dog's fashion. Frank continues to appear on a regular basis...
ReplyDeleteThere is a Flying Dogs of Jupiter "Sound". It's sort of energetic goofy enthusiastic music. It is definitely not how I sound or how Al sounds away from the FDOJ. The new Dogs incarnation captures that feeling some of the time; I still love it.
ReplyDeleteWe do a lot lot less 15 minute jams now and I think we've got more good original material. The oldies...er Great Songs by Great Songwriters... keep us employed on the Street Fair circuit. The new FDOJ have a nice feature - we energetically welcome jammers to sit in - keeps everything fresh (and loosely packed).
Thanks for hosting this blog Curt. Last night Al and I were recording American Dream and he was telling me the history of a riff you and he added tot he song in 1974 (behind the 4th verse). Its all one story. - Ed Tristram
Trying to locate you. Are you still performing?
ReplyDeleteReply to wjohnson@mtpl.org