June 24, 2017

rock / soul pop ~ 1971


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First pressed as a 45 on A&M in 1971, many bars/restaurants had these 7" -33 1/3s EPs (extended play) in jukeboxes through the 70s.




Rock soulster & Hammond organ composer, Lee Michaels kept his organ at the forefront of most all of his songs. Hard rock with a soul gospel sound, could argue Lee Michaels wasn't so much of a hit maker, but more of an LP artist - Longer, fluid rock-soul jams, most probably lent themselves more to the song sequenced LP format than top 40 hits.
Born in Los Angeles, Lee Michaels aka Lee Olson started out as a keyboardist/singer for the California surf band, the Sentinals in 1966. A keyboardist and guitarist, he also did session work with a lot of other musicians.
Moving to and living in San Francisco, he toured with his long time drummer, Barry 'Frosty' Smith and shared the stage with most all the SF rock bands at the time. By the late 70s, he disappeared from the music business to run his shrimp restaurant in Los Angeles.

Lee ~ somewhere in Northern California 1970

Lee Michaels will always be one of my favorite West Coast hippys. Spark up memories of early 70s AM radio... The reality of "Free Love" gone bad?
'Do You Know What I Mean?' was Lee Michaels' only top ten hit.

Lee Micheals opening for Pink Floyd - Fillmore West venue circa 1967. Poster by artist Bonnie MacLean