The Chesterfield Kings

The Chesterfield Kings
Origin Rochester, New York, United States
Genres Garage rock
Years active 1979–2009
Labels Sundazed, Mirror, Wicked Cool
Website www.gregstackhouseprevost.com
Members Greg Prevost
Andy Babiuk
Paul Morabito
Mike Boise
Jeff Okolowicz
Past members Orest Guran
Richard Cona
Doug Meech
Mike Pappert
Walt O'Brien
Paul Rocco
Brett Reynolds
Kris Hadlock
Ted Okolowicz
The cover artwork of The Chesterfield Kings' Let's Go Get Stoned (1994) references the American version of the Rolling Stones' Aftermath (1966); the Mirror Records logo references the London Records logo.[1]

The Chesterfield Kings were a rock band from Rochester, New York, who began as a retro-1960s garage band, and who have heavily mined 1960s music, including some borrowing from the 1960s recordings of The Rolling Stones. Core members were former Distorted Level singer, underground music journalist and avid record collector Greg Prevost (founder of the band), and Andy Babiuk (16 years old at the time of joining the band); others have come and gone. The band, named after a defunct brand of unfiltered cigarette, was instrumental in sparking the 1980s garage band revival that launched such groups as the Unclaimed, Marshmallow Overcoat, The Fuzztones, The Malarians, Mystic Eyes, The Cynics, The Optic Nerve, the Secret Service, and the Stomachmouths.

History

The early Kings were a late-1970s recreation of a mid-1960s garage band sound. Their self-released first single (Living Eye Records, LSD-1) was a cover of The Brogues' 1965 "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" b/w The Heard's 1967 "Exit 9".[2] In a deliberate effort to create their own rare garage-band collectible singles, only 1000 copies were pressed.

Their first broader public exposure came when a track on Greg Shaw's 1981 Bomp! Records compilation Battle of the Garage netted them a series of dates at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. They continued with this 1960s garage sound through the mid-1980s, releasing two albums—Here are the Chesterfield Kings (1982) which contained entirely cover songs, and Stop! (1985) which introduced their first originals. They then turned to a harder-edged rock sound for Don't Open Till Doomsday (1987) and Berlin Wall of Sound (1989) featuring the blues guitar work of new band member Paul Rocco. The group's next album was an acoustic blues record Drunk On Muddy Water (1990).

Their Let's Go Get Stoned (1994) is a mix of slightly post-Aftermath Stones covers and worthy originals in the Stones' style. Surfin' Rampage (1997) showed that they were fully capable of pop harmonies; Where the Action Is (1999) was a return to garage band roots, a mix of covers and 1960s-styled originals.

The Mindbending Sounds of the Chesterfield Kings (2003) pays tribute to the more baroque side of the 1960s underground, evoking at times the sound of the Electric Prunes ("Transparent Life", "Disconnection"), and featuring appearances by Jorma Kaukonen on two tracks.

Their Psychedelic Sunrise (2008) was an extension of sorts of the group's previous album.

Got Live…If You Want It (2009) was a dual live recording and DVD set, as well as the group's final release.

The Kings' full-length feature film Where is the Chesterfield King? (2000) is described on their web site as "A comedy/drama in the vein of The Bowery Boys, Batman, The Monkees Show, A Hard Day's Night, Hawaiian Eye, and The Munsters, with a little Three Stooges slapstick to boot…"[3]

In 2001, Babiuk published Beatles Gear, a book which details exactly which guitars, drums, amplifiers and keyboards The Beatles used throughout their career.

In 2011, Prevost took the solo route releasing a 45 "Mr. Charlie" b/w "Rolling Stone Blues" (Mean Disposition Records MDR45001) in 2012, and in 2013 releasing the blues-rock album Mississippi Murderer (Mean Disposition Records MDLP 001-vinyl & CD format). Mean Disposition is a division of Penniman Records out of Barcelona, Spain.

In 2014 ROLLING STONES GEAR was published, co-written by Babiuk and Prevost ; the follow-up to Babiuk's Beatles Gear.

Line up

Partial discography

Albums

Singles

Bootlegs

Notes and references

  1. ↑ Chris Morris, "Bayside's Exec Shift; Kings Get Stoned", Billboard, April 23, 1994, p. 73.
  2. ↑ The Brogues original "I Ain't No Miracle Worker" can be found on Nuggets; some information about The Heard can be found at The Heard Story Archived September 10, 2005, at the Wayback Machine., accessed 14 January 2006
  3. ↑ The Chesterfield Kings: History
  4. 1 2 3 Blair Buscareno, The Chesterfield Kings, Teen Scene #59, 1999.
  5. ↑ De Blase, Frank (2009-03-24). "OBIT: Paulie Rocco". Rochester City Newspaper. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
  6. 1 2 According to videocrypt.com, in the band at the time of the film Where Is The Chesterfield King? (this site says released 2001, IMDB says 2000).

External links

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