Colorado Music Experience

Length: 31 minutes

Born in Chicago in 1948, an adolescent Otis Taylor moved to Denver with his parents after his uncle was shot to death. He cultivated his interest in blues and folk at the Denver Folklore Center, where he learned to play banjo, guitar and harmonica before forming his first groups. He ventured to London for a brief time until returning to the US in the late ’60s, and stints with the 4-Nikators and Zephyr followed. Taylor left the music business in 1977 to pursue dealing in art and antiques, to coach bicycle racing and to raise a family. During the ’90s, he was drawn back into music, performing and releasing his debut album, Blue-Eyed Monster. Over the course of two decades and 15 albums, Taylor has emerged as a singular voice in the blues scene, garnering international acclaim for his “trance blues” and unflinching honesty in writing about racism, struggle, freedom, heritage and the complications of life. Taylor has earned a long list of awards and nominations. He was recognized in 2000 with a composition fellowship from the Sundance Institute in Park City, Utah, and 2001’s White African captured a W.C. Handy award for Best New Artist Debut. Director Michael Mann picked up his song “Ten Million Slaves” for the movie Public Enemies in 2009. His 2017 album Fantasizing about Being Black chronicled the historical trauma of the African-American experience, from the voyages of slave ships to the Mississippi Delta.

Time Code

Otis talks with G. Brown being raised about being raised in Denver during the ’60s (3:00), hanging out at Harry Tuft’s Folklore Center (4:06), playing with Tommy Bolin and members of Zephyr in the 4-Nikators (9:44), taking a hiatus from the music business and establishing a career as an antiques dealer and coaching a professional bicycle team (11:09), returning with veteran bassist and producer Kenny Passarelli and ace guitarist Eddie Turner to forge his “trance blues” sound (12:53), collaborating with his daughter Cassie (19:30), touring with Irish guitar legend Gary Moore (20:38), spearheading a Blues in the Schools program with his wife Carol (24:40) and the state of race relations (26:48).

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Length: 35 minutes

The Serendipity Singers had their beginning at the University of Colorado with seven members of the Newport Singers—John Madden, Bryan Sennett, Brooks Hatch, Mike Brovsky, Bob Young, Jon Arbenz and Lynne Weintraub; the men had all performed in various folk music trios. After working widely in Colorado, they moved to New York, where Fred Weintraub, the owner of the Bitter End nightclub in Greenwich Village, managed them. The clean-cut act added University of Texas students Tom Tiemann and Diane Decker, and the Serendipity Singers made appearances on ABC-TV’s weekly Hootenanny show and signed to a record contract. “Don’t Let the Rain Come Down (Crooked Little Man),” the group’s debut single, was a Top 10 hit and received a Grammy nomination. The follow-up, “Beans in My Ears,” hit #30 on the Billboard chart. The Serendipity Singers released six albums and performed on every variety television show of the era. The group’s name was sold in the early 1970s; new lineups performed into the early 2000s.

Time Code

John talks with G. Brown about moving to Boulder and carving out a niche in the Colorado music scene with the Newport Singers (0:33), taking the act to New York (8:26), becoming a nonet and being christened the Serendipity Singers (11:52), performing as the host act on Hootenanny, the ABC-TV series (14:30), two hit tunes hitting the national charts (15:52), life on the road (19:15), playing The Tonight Show and hanging out with Johnny Carson (22:20), fundraising for Lyndon Johnson (24:24), the influence of the Beatles (24:58), leaving the group for a career in law (26:26) and how show business enhanced his trial attorney skills (37:20).

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Length: 46 minutes

Time Code

Chris talks with G. Brown about homecoming shows in Colorado, notably at Red Rocks (0:55), growing up in Boulder and gravitating to the upright bass (3:41), playing professionally as a teenager (7:42), heading to music school in New England, moving to New York and forming Medeski Martin & Wood (10:34), recording the Shack-man album in Hawaii (15:26), a search for new sounds on his instrument (19:16), catching the attention of Phish and the jam-band scene (23:29), the birth of the Wood Brothers (26:56), the aesthetics of writing and producing in Nashville (33:38), and the joy of performing and the power of gratitude (39:13).

Chris Wood

Raised in Boulder, Colorado, bassist Chris Wood studied jazz and classical music, eventually attending the New England Conservatory of Music in 1989. He soon accompanied one of his teachers, Bob Moses, as a sideman for an overseas tour along with keyboardist John Medeski. Afterwards, the avant-jazz-funk band Medeski Martin & Wood was formed in New York City with Billy Martin on drums. For the last decade, Wood has collaborated with his brother, Oliver Wood, in the Wood Brothers, touring and recording several widely praised albums.

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Length: 32 minutes

Time Code

Paul talks with G. Brown about the Colorado roots of the Hand People (0:52), “Lothar” joining the band (3:46), a Red Rocks legacy and the Lovin’ Spoonful’s John Sebastian recommending that the band move to New York (7:46), signing with Capitol Records and the band’s evolving use of electronic instruments (10:15), Dick Clark playing “Machines” on the Rate-a-Record segment of the classic TV series American Bandstand (14:28), guitarist Kim King jamming with Jimi Hendrix and working at Electric Ladyland studio (16:08), a memorable gig in Montreal (18:48), the band’s dissolution and members’ post-Lothar accomplishments (21:38), and the Chemical Brothers’ sampling of a 1968 Lothar track (25:38).

Paul Conly, 1968

Formed in 1965, Lothar & the Hand People played exclusively in the Denver area for six months, headquartering at the Exodus club. “Lothar” was a theremin—a wand-like electronic musical instrument—and the Hand People were Paul Conly (keyboards, synthesizer), John Emelin (vocals), Rusty Ford (bass) Tom Flye (drums) and Kim King (guitar, synthesizer). As the support act for the Lovin’ Spoonful at the Denver Coliseum, the Spoonful’s leader John Sebastian suggested that the band move to New York. The group released two albums on Capitol Records, Presenting…Lothar and the Hand People (1968) and Space Hymn (1969), pioneering the use of the Moog synthesizer before the members went their separate ways. In 1997, the Chemical Brothers sampled the 30-year-old Lothar song “It Comes on Anyhow” in “It Doesn’t Matter,” from Dig Your Own Hole (a UK No. 1 album).

• Lothar & the Hand People
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Length: 41 minutes

Time Code

Bob talks with G. Brown about moving to Colorado at age 10, being forced to play guitar right-handed and starting his first band (0:58), launching the Moonrakers and becoming local celebrities, reaching No. #1 on Denver’s Top 40 radio giant KIMN (7:30), going psychedelic with Beggar’s Opera Company (12:48), reforming the Moonrakers with Jerry Corbetta on drums (14:22), launching the local “supergroup” Chocolate Hair with Corbetta switching to keyboards (16:00), the creation of the classic hit “Green Eyed Lady” (21:16), changing the band name to Sugarloaf (26:10), touring with a who’s who of rock royalty (27:35), industry attitudes that inspired Sugarloaf’s second Top 10 hit, “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” (31.23), the pain of Sugarloaf’s break-up (32.55) and his life after rock ’n’ roll (35:15).

Bob Webber played lead guitar in the Moonrakers, Denver’s most popular group during the mid-Sixties, releasing four singles on the Tower label. In 1968, he formed the band Chocolate Hair with singer and keyboardist Jerry Corbetta, along with drummer Myron Pollock and bassist Bob Raymond. The band, having signed to Liberty Records, changed its name to Sugarloaf, and the single “Green Eyed Lady” shot up to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the eponymous 1970 debut album reached #24 on the Billboard 200 album chart.  The national exposure put them on the road for extended touring. Sugarloaf released “Don’t Call Us, We’ll Call You” (#9 in 1975) before breaking up. Webber went on to become an aerospace engineer. In 2015, he launched a recording studio in the Denver foothills, Sugarloaf Canyon Productions.

• Sugarloaf
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• Sugarloaf
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Length: 40 minutes

Time Code

Marty talks with G. Brown about arriving in Boulder in 1968 (1:02), launching the “Ball for Peace” and orchestrating Zephyr’s inaugural concert (3:25), pioneering psychedelic light shows and working with the Grateful Dead (5:30), booking the first-ever stadium show at Folsom Field, presaging the rock concert business (9:10), creating marketing and promotional templates (19:26), witnessing lunacy with Jethro Tull (21:11), watching the Who and Santana at the height of their powers (23:58) and pyrotechnical fun with the Doobie Brothers (31:35).

The Doobie Brothers with Marty Wolff (upper right)

A Bronx-born baby boomer, Marty Wolff spent a decade based out of Boulder during the cultural revolution of the late Sixties and Seventies. Taking on the promotion of concerts at the University of Colorado-Boulder, he created the first psychedelic light shows and soon helped draw up the blueprint for the modern concert industry, helping many major artists to the stage in Denver and other markets. Basing his operation in Boulder, he then traveled the world as a concert producer and as lighting/stage designer for the Doobie Brothers. He helped secure record deals for two musicians with deep Colorado ties, Tim Goodman and Max Gronenthal (Carl). He also had a stint creating and managing the bands Stone Fury and Kingdom Come and is now based in Maui, a world-class photographer shooting exceptional marine images, plant life and views of the sky.

Marty Wolff at lighting console with Keith Knudsen of the Doobie Brothers

• The Doobie Brothers
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• Tim Goodman
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Length: 30 minutes

Time Code

John talks to G. Brown about being his hiring by Jim Guercio as manager of Caribou Ranch (1:35), the famous “Caribou sound” (5:05), adventures with Elton John (6:45), Chicago recording “Wishing You Were Here” with the Beach Boys on backing vocals (10:11), John Lennon’s visit (11:12), Earth, Wind & Fire finding inspiration (12:25), Dan Fogelberg losing a car on the premises (13:36), the hijinks of the Caribou girls (21:38), the studio gear that captured the music (24:32) and the beginning of the end (26:37).

After a stint in the US Army and functioning in the corporate world, John Carsello got the call to run Caribou Ranch, transformed by Chicago producer James William Guercio into the first “destination studio,” an opulent retreat for pop music’s aristocracy outside of the usual Los Angeles or New York circles. With Carsello managing the operation, Caribou was home to many of the biggest pop music recordings of the Seventies and early Eighties, gaining prominence when Elton John recorded the gratefully titled Caribou album in 1974. A veritable who’s who of rock music’s elite passed through Caribou Ranch’s gates on Carsello’s watch—Earth, Wind & Fire, Dan Fogelberg, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Joe Walsh, Frank Zappa, Eddie Rabbitt, Michael Jackson and many more. Caribou stayed in operation until an electrical fire ended the era in 1985.

• Caribou Ranch
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• Caribou Ranch
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• Elton John’s Colorado Connection
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Length: 24 minutes

Anthony “Tony” Spicola got his start in the music industry managing, recording and mentoring bands and local musicians throughout Southern Colorado—the Trolls, the Beast, Patti Jo (of the Teardrops), Band-X (featuring John Grove) and, notably, Chan Romero (“Hippy Hippy Shake”). He began bringing bands to his clubs, the Fantastic Zoo and Pinocchio’s in Pueblo; he then graduated to Kelker Junction (a 3,000-capacity warehouse) and the City Auditorium in Colorado Springs, also starting events called Swing Dings. He booked, among many national acts, the Everly Brothers, the Young Rascals, Ike & Tina Turner, the Animals, Buffalo Springfield, the Yardbirds—and the Who, in the band’s first-ever Colorado appearance in August 1968. Spicola owned KDZA, Pueblo’s AM Top 40 radio giant, and, in the ‘80s, co-promoted Van Halen’s infamous “no brown M&M’s” concert at the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo.

Time Code

Tony talks to G. about growing up in Trinidad and Pueblo and his first forays into local artist management, including Chan Romero of “Hippy Hippy Shake” fame (0:50), promoting concerts with seminal Sixties acts the Animals, Glen Campbell, Paul Revere & the Raiders and Fever Tree (3:30), dealing with “the elephant in the room” (8:48), breaking Buffalo Springfield, the Yardbirds and the Who in Colorado (12:10) and the story behind the legend of the Van Halen “no brown M&M’s” show (18:57).

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Length: 39 minutes

Time Code

Charlie talks with G. Brown about his introduction to the double bass (1:24), the life-changing moment when he heard the San Francisco Symphony on the radio (2:56), discovering jazz and attending an elite music school (9:31), joining the Navy (12:09), dealing with racial road blocks and taking the Greyhound bus to Denver (14:42), getting an audition with the Denver Symphony Orchestra (17:34), playing at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with the DSO (21:09), playing jazz in Five Points (25:37), experiences with Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Charlie Parker (26:48), breaking the color barrier at the San Francisco Symphony and tutoring George Duke (30:32), quitting the Denver Symphony (32:32) and guiding his niece, jazz great Dianne Reeves (33:38).

Born in 1920, Charles “Charlie” Burrell grew up in Depression-era Detroit. In the seventh grade, he took up the double bass and later heard the San Francisco Symphony play Tchaikovsky’s 4th Symphony on his family’s crystal set radio, inspiring him to pursue a career in classical music. He enlisted in the Navy at the start of World War II, serving in the all-Black naval unit at Camp Robert Smalls near Chicago and playing in its all-star band with trumpeter Clark Terry. After the war, Burrell attended Wayne State University on the GI Bill but was discouraged from becoming a music teacher because of his race. He moved to Denver and landed an audition with the Denver Symphony Orchestra, and became its first black member. He would then earn the same pioneering distinction with the San Francisco Symphony and was also admitted to the faculty of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In 1965, he rejoined the Denver Symphony Orchestra (now the Colorado Symphony) and, retiring after three decades, continued to play in jazz bands and with the Charlie Burrell Trio in clubs around Colorado, having previously performed with legends like Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald. The young musicians Burrell mentored include keyboardist George Duke and his niece, Grammy-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves. He received the 2015 Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award.

• Charlie Burrell
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Length: 40 minutes

Legendary singer-songwriter Graham Nash’s body of work began with his contributions to the Hollies canon from 1964 to 1968, including “Stop Stop Stop,” “Bus Stop,” “On A Carousel” and “Carrie Anne.” The songs from the original classic union of Crosby, Stills & Nash (& Young) included Nash’s “Marrakesh Express,” “Pre-Road Downs” (written for then-girlfriend Joni Mitchell), and “Lady of the Island” from the Crosby, Stills & Nash LP (1969), and “Teach Your Children” and “Our House” from CSNY’s Déjà Vu (1970). Songs for Beginners (1971) and the songs “Chicago/We Can Change the World” and “Military Madness” launched Nash’s solo career, with “I Used to Be A King” and “Simple Man” remaining concert staples for years. His next album, Wild Tales (1974), addressed many issues, including unfair jail terms for minor drug offenses (“Prison Song”). The partnership Graham Nash/David Crosby (1972) emerged, bookended by Nash’s opening “Southbound Train” and the closer “Immigration Man.” The duo also contributed the albums Wind on the Water (1975) and Whistling Down the Wire (1976). Nash supplied “Just A Song Before I Go,” a Top 10 hit, to the CSN reunion album (1977). On CSN’s Daylight Again (1982), he penned their second (and final) Top 10 hit, “Wasted on the Way.” 2018’s This Path Tonight was Nash’s first solo record of new music in fourteen years. The “No Nukes”/Musicians United for Safe Energy (MUSE) concerts he organized with Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt in 1979 were seminal benefit events. In recognition for his contributions as a musician and philanthropist, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Nash an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). A two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with Crosby, Stills & Nash and with the Hollies, Nash was also inducted twice into the Songwriter Hall of Fame, as a solo artist and with CSN. Nash is also an internationally renowned photographer and visual artist whose work has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide. His company Nash Editions’ original IRIS 3047 digital printer is now housed at the Smithsonian Institution in recognition of his accomplishments.

Time Code

Graham tells G. Brown about meeting the Everly Brothers as a teen (1:15), the support of Donovan and David Crosby upon leaving the Hollies (9:36), forming Crosby, Stills & Nash (11:27), Neil Young joining the band (12:30), recording the Déjà Vu album (15:39), his first Colorado visit to Stephen Stills’ Gold Hill cabin (18:02), the 1974 CSNY stadium tour (24:11), hanging out at Caribou Ranch and playing Red Rocks (25:58), being in Denver on 9/11 (28:58) and legal marijuana in Colorado (36:36).

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