From Fort Worth, Texas, this band had quite a prolific output, but with little success. Probably their best known track is D.O.A. from their second album, which is a heavy organ-based threatening piece with police sirens, and is very much in the anti-war, anti-space race, anti-everything vein of the era. Another notable cut Breach Of Lease off their third album is intense, starting slowly and building up to an amazingly heavy climax. The live version is also particularly hot, whilst the humorous Melvin Laid An Egg from the debut is another musical high point.
Actually, Cobb didn't play on the debut album; Rutledge played drums on it and early on, John Nitzinger too was considered (somewhat) a member of the band and wrote or co-wrote many of the songs.
After the live album, Rutledge and Pickens left and Warren Ham joined as a vocalist and woodwind player for the last two albums. For their final album (Whirlwind Tongues), Cobb left and was replaced by drummer Randy Reeder who had previously played in John Nitzinger's band and later played with a group called Alexis. Warren Ham later went on to form the Ham Brothers and released an album as such in 1977. Later still, he went on to play in former Kansas guitarist/keyboardist Kerry Livgren's Christian rock group AD for, we believe, two LPs - Time Line and Art Of The State. In the '80s Warren was also in Black Rose.
(Chris Snow / Hans Hoekstra / Ron Bronholc)
01. "Gotta Find A Way" 6:35
02. "Castle Of Thoughts" 3:31
03. "Fatback" 3:24
04. "Double Cross" 5:19
05. "Timepiece" 6:00
06. "Wicked Truth" 4:48
07. "Gimmie Your Head" 2:44
08. "Fantastic Piece Of Architecture" 8:49
09. "Melvin Laid An Egg" 7:28
JIM RUTLEDGE ld vcls
LEE PICKENS ld gtr, vcls
NICK TAYLOR gtr, vcls
ED GRUNDY bs, vcls
STEVE HILL keyb'ds, vcls
RICK COBB drms
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