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Mammoth Springs

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Ab Skhy


CAMEL BACK(1969)

AB Skhy was a very good but unfortunately largely forgotten band that I believe first had its roots in Milwaukee and eventually moved to San Francisco. This cut has a Booker T type funk sound.

Howard Wales was the original keyboard player. No less a luminary than Jerry Garcia credits Wales for taking him farther out than any other musician. I include a cut from their album Hooteroll. Someone captured the reflected light of the moon in a pond for the accompanying video.

A.B. Skhy was a blues-rock quartet from San Francisco consisting of guitarist Dennis Geyer, keyboard player Howard Wales, bass player Jim Marcotte, and drummer Terry Andersen. This lineup made the group's debut album, A.B. Skhy, in 1969, with a seven-piece horn section. The album failed to chart, but the instrumental "Camel Back" hit number 100 on the Hot 100 for one week in December. Andersen and Wales then left and were replaced by guitarist James "Curley" Cooke and drummer Rick Jaeger for the group's second album, Ramblin' On (1970), which was produced by Kim Fowley. They broke up during the recording of their third album. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide