Starcastle

@ Wiki

Final line-up
Al Lewis - Lead vocals
Gary Strater - Bass
Herb Schildt - Keyboards
Matt Stewart - Guitar
Bruce Botts - Guitar
Jeff Koehnke - Drums

Former members
Terry Luttrel - Vocals (Ex-REO Speedwagon)
George Harp - Vocals
Ralph Goldheim - Vocals and keyboards
Steve Hagler - Guitar
Mark McGee - Guitar
Steve Tassler - Drums
Scott McKenzie - Drums

Starcastle is a progressive rock band from St. Louis, Missouri and Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. The band began life in 1969 as "St. James". Heavily influenced by the British progressive rock movement of the time, the band began writing material that would eventually appear on the first album. They also began a rigorous schedule of support gigs at clubs throughout the Midwest, honing their stage show and working in original material with covers. Despite relative success, and the release of a (now rare) single, something more was needed. Five years and a few name and line-up changes later, Starcastle was born. With tight musicianship, glorious vocal harmonies and a fleet-fingered bassist named Gary Strater, they were on their way.

Albums
Work began on the band's first self-titled LP and it was released in early 1976. The response to the music of Starcastle was positive and despite some detractors' accusations that they sounded like a Yes clone, the album received heavy FM airplay throughout the US & Canada. The group began an even more intensive touring schedule including some of the biggest shows of their careers. The first album sold well, and Epic sent the band to Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec with producer Roy Thomas Baker.

Although Roy was well known for his success with Queen, the band was not sure if it was a good fit or not. The atmosphere and surroundings of Le Studio were idyllic, but the final product, “Fountains of Light” turned out to be something other than what the band envisioned. More touring followed this time including a number of headlining shows in small halls and universities, with Journey and Foreigner supporting Starcastle on some dates. “Fountains of Light” garnered the band critical acclaim, and while the single "Diamond Song (Deep is the Light)" failed to chart, the album sold respectably.

Despite issues with Roy Baker’s style, the label sent Starcastle to England to record their third offering, “Citadel” with Baker once again handling production. The band was under pressure at this time by their record label for a more commercial rock sound, but Starcastle kept to its progressive rock roots. After more touring, the cracks in the band were starting to show. "Real to Reel" was an album the band felt should have never been released, because of its pop-like sound and disappointment with fans. Most of the more ‘progressive’ demos done for the record were rejected by CBS, and the band had stopped believing in what they were doing. The album was released and fell flat. During the subsequent tour, keyboardist Herb Schildt decided it was time to leave to pursue his passion – computers, and Terry, who had his eyes on producing, left after the group’s final date of the tour with Aerosmith. This, coupled with disappointing sales figures, prompted CBS to drop Starcastle from its roster.

Subsequent Regroupings
Undeterred, Starcastle regrouped and in 1979, the band began touring again, this time with Steve Hagler assuming lead vocal duties, without a record contract. While this line-up worked for a while, Matt remembered a vocalist he had met and became friends with a few years earlier: Ralph Goldhiem. Ralph had toured the Midwest with another CBS/Epic group called Timberline. While the Timberline sound was more similar to The Eagles and Poco, it gave Ralph a taste of what he wanted to do. He moved to Los Angeles temporally joining up with former Trapeze / Deep Purple vocalist Glen Hughes in rehearsals for a possible album which never materialized. It was during this time Matt called Ralph about joining Starcastle as keyboardist and vocalist. After touring and working with Jeff Glixman (producer - Kansas)on a new record deal, the band packed up and moved to Atlanta in hopes of revitalizing the sound. In 1980, and after some minor label interest, guitarist Steve Hagler and drummer Steve Tassler both left the group and Steve Tassler went on to become a doctor (General Practitioner). Shortly thereafter, guitarist Matt Stewart left. Disillusioned, remaining member Gary Strater returned to Champaign to regroup.

In 1982, Gary moved to the San Francisco Bay Area where he began to reinvent his own musical direction. Ultimately, this led to Gary forming a new and more modern version of Starcastle with Bruce Botts (guitar/vocals), George Harp (lead vocals) and Scott McKenzie (drums/vocals). Much new material was written and performed during this time drawing critical praise and interest from Bill Graham. Bruce Botts left the group in 1985 and moved back to the Midwest. He was replaced by Mark McGee (Vicious Rumors) This line up carried on until 1987.

Gary eventually moved back to Champaign. In 1997 Gary Strater and Bruce Botts rekindled their association and, operating from the Midwest, began work on a new recording. Eventually members from all incarnations of the band came together to work on this project. In 2001, Gary formed Sunsinger Records and released an archive CD, “Chronos I”, with demos and unreleased tracks. He followed that up in 2002 with a solo release, "Eleven To The Fourth Twice", an experimental album based purely on fractals and computer equations. Ex-drummer Steve Tassler would also release a solo album that same year on Sunsinger entitled "Alive Beyond Recognition."

In April 2004, a benefit show was arranged for Gary Strater, as he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. Ultimately, Gary was joined onstage by all the original members for a four song performance. This would be Gary's final performance with Starcastle, and he would succumb later that year at the age of 51. During his chemotherapy treatment Gary and the other members continued to work on the new record. Gary finished his parts only weeks before passing away. The album, Song of Times, was finished in late 2006 and due for release on the Prog Rock Records label on March 15, 2007. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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@ starcastlemusic.com
St. James
The Starcastle story begins in 1969 at the University of Illinois in Champaign. Students Steve Hagler (guitar), Mike Castlehorn (Drums) and Paul Tassler (bass guitar) formed St. James performing cover tunes of the day in local bars, and student mixers. Herb Schildt joined later filling out the bands sound. The unforeseen death of Mike Castlehorn in a Car accident, left the drum spot open to Steve Tassler, Paul’s brother, who at the time was playing off and on in another band. Paul had become more interested in the business side of things, and left his bass playing position to manage the group. Gary Strater who had sat in with St. James on a number of occasions, as well as owning a Van to haul gear became the band’s bass player.

Mad John Fever
With the lineup in place, new band name and Paul at the helm, Mad John Fever were set to do something more than just become a cover band. Highly influenced by the British Progressive rock of the time, Mad John Fever began writing material that would eventually appear on the 1st album. The group began a rigorous schedule of gigs including dates with Styx, Mike Bloomfield, Blue Oyster Cult, Stories, and Captain Beyond as well as clubs throughout the Midwest. The group had begun to hone its stage show, working in original material with Allman Brothers, Deep Purple, Wishbone Ash, and Jethro Tull covers. Despite relative success, and the release of a (now rare) single, something more was needed.

Terry Luttrell was already well know in Champaign as the vocalist for REO Speedwagon and appeared on that groups first self-titled LP. After leaving REO, Terry performed in another local band called Sea Daddy with guitarist Matt Stewart. Terry’s soft tenor and previous experience in the "Biz" was just what the band needed. Matt had already gained a reputation in the area by sneaking into clubs at a young age and jamming with whomever he could. His style of playing proved to be complimentary to Hagler’s and a new version of Mad John Fever set to work.

Pegasus
In 1974, the group felt the band name just did not fit the music, or the image they wanted to present. "Pegasus" was chosen, and a couple club dates as well as an opening act slot with the Strawbs in St. Louis took place under this moniker, but it wasn’t to be. After an excellent review of the Strawbs gig in a St. Louis music paper, another Illinois band calling themselves Pegasus threatened legal action to stop using the name as they had the copyright. Not wanting problems, the band decided to find another name. A number of possible names were put in a hat (literally), and the word "Starcastle" was drawn. With Mad John Fever, and Pegasus behind them, Starcastle pushed forward and the Record Industry started to take notice.

Starcastle
Starcastle continued to work hard over the next year. Recording and touring extensively with The Guess Who, Elvin Bishop, Montrose, Sha Na Na, Roxy Music and working the club circuit. Greater exposure was generated through several Midwest radio stations including disc jockey Asher Benrubi- "The Mighty Atom Smasher" in Indianapolis who plugged the band, and gave the early demos substantial air play. Mercury and CBS were both paying attention, but the deal was sealed when then CBS A&R Rep Steve Popvitch saw the band play at a club in Edwardsville. Work began on the bands first LP in Pekin, Illinois and was released in early 1976.

The response to the music of Starcastle was overwhelming. Receiving heavy FM air play throughout the US & Canada the group began an even more intensive touring schedule including some of the biggest shows of their careers. Central Park in New York City with Gentle Giant, Playing to over 100,000 people over two days in Los Angeles and San Diego on the Jethro Tull tour and many others. The first album sold well, and Epic sent the band to Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec with Roy Thomas Baker. Roy was well known for his success with Queen, although the band were not quite sure if it was a good fit or not, as Roy did not understand Starcastle’s vocals and other aspects of the sound. While the atmosphere and surroundings of Le Studio were idyllic, the final product, while considered the band’s best -"Fountains of Light" turned out to be something other than what the band envisioned. More touring followed this time including a number of headlining shows in small halls and universities with Journey, and Foreigner supporting Starcastle on some dates. "Fountains of Light" was critically acclaimed, and while the single "Diamond Song (Deep is the Light)" failed to chart-the album sold respectably, but once again the label wanted more from Starcastle and the times were changing.

After the huge successes of Peter Frampton’s "Comes Alive" album and Boston’s self titled debut, as well as the rise of Punk rock and Disco- radio formats were moving away from progressive rock. No longer were programmers interested in eight minute songs, or concepts, they wanted short concise songs, that would fit on the radio and sell. Despite issues with Roy Baker’s style, the label sent Starcastle to England to record "Citadel" with Baker once again handling production. The pressure was on, but Starcastle kept to it’s progressive rock roots. Minor air play was generated with "Can’t Think Twice" and "Could this be Love", but not enough to push the sales CBS wanted. More touring followed, but cracks in the band were starting to show.

"Real to Reel" was an album the band felt should have never been released, despite it containing a couple of Starcastle’s best songs "Song for Alaya" and "When the Sun Shines at Midnight". Some of the more "progressive" demo’s done for the record were rejected by CBS, and the band had stopped believing in what they were doing. The LP was released, and fell flat. During the tour supporting the LP, Herb decided it was time to leave to pursue his passion- Computers, and Terry who had his eyes on producing, both left Starcastle after the groups final date of the tour with Aerosmith in Cincinnati, Ohio. The bands wish was to continue using another vocalist, but disappointing sales and the fact Terry had left, CBS promptly dropped Starcastle from it’s roster. In turn the management company Artistic Visions let the band go- leaving Paul Tassler again to handle Starcastle’s business.

Undeterred, Starcastle carried on. They regrouped in Champaign and in early 1979 the band began touring again this time with Steve Hagler on lead vocals and without a record contract. While this line-up worked for a while, Matt remembered a vocalist he had met and became friends with a few years earlier- Ralph Goldhiem. Ralph had toured the Midwest with another CBS/Epic group called Timberline. While the Timberline sound was more similar to The Eagles and Poco, it gave Ralph a taste of what he wanted to do. He moved to Los Angeles temporally joining up with former Trapeze / Deep Purple vocalist Glen Hughes in rehearsals for a possible album which never materialized. It was during this time Matt called Ralph about joining Starcastle as vocalist.

With Ralph on board in July of 1979 the new Starcastle took shape. The material became more hard edged, while still retaining the trademark Starcastle sound. Needing a change of surroundings Starcastle moved from Champaign to Atlanta, Georgia. A spec deal was signed with producer Jeff Glixman in Atlanta who was at that time best known for his work with Kansas. Through working with Glixman on the first demo, a management deal was signed with former Queen manager-Jack Nelson. Nelson was more of a "hands off" manager, but did bring both Arista and A&M’s John Kolander to the table for a possible deal. Nothing happened, but the band still held out hope that something would come along for the better. The band contemplated a name change at one point-even played a gig as "The Pack" at Atlanta’s Agora Ballroom, but it was still Starcastle, and it was Starcastle they came to hear. In 1980 both Steve Hagler and Steve Tassler left the group. Tassler’s replacement on drums was Mauro Magellan. Rehearsals took place with Magellan, but he left a short time later to join The Georgia Satellites -a band who’s multi-selling debut album would be produced by Jeff Glixman. Matt Stewart left for California and would later join Head East as guitarist in the mid-80’s. Gary & Ralph continued to write together, but eventually Gary returned to Champaign, disillusioned and looking for a fresh start.

Gary organized later versions of the band in California through the '80s, and work has been ongoing on a new Starcastle record, "Song of Times". Through a series of adventures, and with the dedicated work of a group that includes vocalist Al Lewis, formerly of Alaska, Starcastle guitarist Bruce Botts, Gary, Matt, Herb, Steve Tassler, Pogo Studio's Mark Rubel and various friends and associates, the new Starcastle album "Song of Times" will soon be released. "Song of Times" features appearances by all of the original Starcastle members, and new Starcastle music. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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Progressive rock legends Starcastle release new CD on ProgRock Records. Rancho Santa Margarita, CA (PRWEB) March 16, 2007 -- Progressive Rock is alive and well and living at California-based label ProgRock Records with the release of the new Starcastle CD Song Of Times . It's the band's first new release in over two decades making this an even more historic event! Formed in Champaign, IL in the late 1960s. Starcastle released four critically acclaimed albums between 1976 and 1978 on CBS/Epic Records which sold over a million units combined. The band toured extensively into the 1980s, appearing with such artists as Aerosmith, Jethro Tull, Roxy Music, Ted Nugent, Rush, Kansas, ELO, Peter Frampton, Santana, Boston, and Todd Rundgren, amongst many others. Now signed to ProgRock Records , who's name says it all about the label's roster of tremendous 'progressive' talent, the band prepares to take to the skies with their new release! Starcastle's new CD Song Of Times, which dons stunning artwork by Ed Unitsky, is quite possibly their best work yet! "What an honor and thrill it is to be able to put out this album", proudly claims ProgRock President Shawn Gordon . "I loved these guys when they hit the scene, never in my life did I think I'd get to work with them, especially with such an amazing album!" The CD includes contributions from original members Gary Strater, Terry Luttrell, Steve Tassler, Herb Schildt, Matt Stewart and Steve Hagler, as well as new faces Al Lewis, Bruce Botts, John O'Hara, Neal Robinson, Mark Mcgee, Jeff Koehnke and Scott McKensie. "Starcastle is thrilled to join with ProgRock Records in the release of our new work" says the band. "We see this record as bridging our past and future, and are happy to be aligned with ProgRock, who represent so many fine and vital artists in this continually unfolding genre." With original and new band members joined together, Starcastle are anticipating another run of mega-success. Songs like "Babylon " are sure to put a smile on any radio program director's face, with its catchy melody, commercial song structure and stunning vocalizations by new band member Al Lewis. Through a series of adventures and the passing in 2004 of bassist and driving light Gary Strater, a dedicated group of friends, musicians and associates have persevered to complete and release Song Of Times. In support of Starcastle's new masterwork, the band will be headlining a one-off gig on April 27, 2007 at the Rites Of Spring Festival in Phoenixville, PA. In an interesting twist, after so many years of comparisons with rock superstars Yes, Rick Wakeman's son Oliver, who also has a release on ProgRock Records entitled Mothers Ruin, will accompany Starcastle on keyboards for this live event! Amongst the hoopla surrounding the new Starcastle CD comes more adventurous releases from ProgRock Records, such as the solo album from Henning Pauly entitled Babysteps. The CD includes guest appearances by Dream Theater vocalist James LaBrie, as well as Jody Ashworth of Trans-Siberian Orchestra and both Michael Sadler and Jim Gilmour of Canadian muli-platinum selling, hard rock legends Saga. ProgRock Records has previously released solo albums from Michael Sadler Clear and Jim Gilmour Great Escape. Paul Henning has also released two other albums with ProgRock Records under the guise Frameshift. The first CD Unweaving The Rainbow also features James Labrie, whilst the second release An Absence Of Empathy boasts performances by ex-Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach. ProgRock Records is proud to announce the historic release of the third Planet P Project CD called 1931, featuring original Rainbow keyboardist Tony Carey. The first two Planet P Project albums contained several radio and video hits including "Why Me" and "Power Tools". Tony Carey has over 30 albums to his credit, and as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has worked with some of the biggest names in the business. "I'm delighted to have found a new platform to deliver my admittedly esoteric stuff," boasts Carey, "and I'm excited to be working with Shawn and ProgRock Records!" For more information on the new Starcastle CD and other ProgRock Records releases, check out the official website: www.progrockrecords.com =>>>>>>>>>>> ============ blogprock ============

Gary Strater

Gary Strater of Starcastle Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?!

@ Bass Inside.com - No 7 February 2003
Gary StraterBy the mid 70's the brave new idea of Prog Rock was starting to fizzle out in England. However, over in the States a lot of bands were only just starting to catch on. One such group, Starcastle, was just beginning to entrace audiences at universities throughout Illinois. In the human need to quantify so that they might understand, similarities were drawn between Starcastle and the British band Yes. Strong layered vocals, keyboards throughout and the distinct 'Ricky' sound coming from their bassist, Gary Strater. And the fact that he was fast and furious as a bassist and leaned heavily upon strong melodic lines just seemed to further cement the similarities.

The band's albums were complex and epic pieces, with one song neatly folded into the other. It appeared that there was often just one song on each side of the vinyl album. It was an effect few others had tried, but for Starcastle it only lent to their progressive status and mystic.

Over the brief few years they existed, they caught the attention of many, including a record label that not only saw their marketability but their youth and naivete as well. In four albums, the band had been destroyed, having been led by the nose through their new age innocence. Their fourth and final album, Real to Reel, finally broke the back of the band. Critically ignored, abandoned by fans who felt they had sold out to the Pop Machine, they felt they had no recourse but to call it a day.

By the time the label had twisted Starcastle around and around to produce radio hits (read: money) the original intent for the band was long gone. Broken and spread to the four winds, disenchanted and angry, yet still there was something unresolved. All of them could accept the fact that band had ended. However, what they could never accept was the way it was taken from them with their futures hijacked.

It took a long time, some serious searching for members gone astray and some honest conversations, apologies and planning to gather them together one last time. More than anything, the one thing they wanted to do, needed to do, was end this the way THEY wanted it ended. Closing the door the right way, their way. That is how Chronos I came about. Taking back their past, straightening out the anger, the loss and putting it all together in a package that they are happy with. Closure.

Problem was, though, when they got back together, some of the magic came with them. After the release of Chronos I, though brought together originally for just the one album, some have chosen to remain. Now there is serious talk about a new album with new songs and a second Chronos album. A few member adjustments later, for some could no longer stay, the remaining crew of Starcastle are gonna give it one more shot. This time, their way.

Bassist Gary Strater is one such that chose to stay on. He is the owner of their record label, Sunsinger Records, and the spokesman for the band's business. He has just released his first solo CD, surprisingly NOT a bass album. We forgave him for that and still wanted to find out what lay out there next in the Starcastle camp and his own career as bassist and keyboardist.

Bass Inside: Do you get the chance much these days to play bass?

Gary Strater: Yes, I still play all of the time.

Bass Inside: In what context? Studio work at Pogo or with other projects, and do you do much teaching these days?

Gary Strater: I do a little studio work and I play in a regional cover tune band called ESP. We are a three-piece band and we do mostly classic rock tunes and a few more contemporary pieces. It keeps my hands in shape and it’s fun. I also teach a few private lessons a week.

Here’s one that really sticks in my mind… In this world of Marcus Millers, Victor Wootens, Steve Baileys and Stu Hamms, why did you not go that route? Did you ever get the bug just to try releasing a bass album, even if just for the fun of it?

I actually have been toying with the idea, and I have several songs that I could use, but I’ve been so delayed in the efforts to finish the new Starcastle CD that I decided that I will wait until it is completed before I try my hand at another solo project.

I also think that for the most part bass solos are boring. I mean I haven’t heard anything that tops Jaco’s solo thing. I feel that most bassists have tried to either out-lick or out-gimmick their way to fame.

Maybe I should’ve been a little more self-promotional in my career, but I ended up focusing more on writing than on soloing. My writing has always been more subconscious than studied and I’ve tried to get more systematic with it. I also composed and produced Eleven To The Fourth Twice without really planning to last year. Apparently, I have yet to be inspired to write a solo bass CD.

Also, why did you choose not to join with some super-group looking for a bassist?

Gary StraterI actually think that my bass playing is just enough off of the beaten path for most musicians that I never ended up in another group. Starcastle is such a great vehicle for me that when I come up with an acceptable bass line, I always put it in that context.

I write my bass parts as melodies that have rhythmic functions and not as the low note in the chord that the band is playing. I’ll often use the bass to harmonize the lead vocal or to complete a melody that started on another instrument, and that doesn’t sit well with a lot of 'rock' musicians. That’s why I end up starting another Prog band every so often.

When you did the live playing around where you live, in various projects, did you get bassists coming up to you and asking the aforementioned question as well?

I actually still get bassists that assume that I’m going to release a solo thing telling me that they can’t wait. When I tell them that my solo CD is out and there is no bass on it I get this short-circuited look. Maybe I should give the bass CD idea a shot?

In 2000, it seemed like it was just minutes before Chronos 1 would be out there. It took quite some time, however, before that dream actually came to pass. What factors delayed the project?

Chronos I is actually a long story. I was opposed to archive releases for years. I had heated chat room conversations about the subject until I was convinced that there was a legitimate use for 'lost' recordings.

It then became a question of finding out if any of the original guys had any lost recordings. Getting a hold of the original guys after so many years was both difficult and potentially perilous. Some of us hadn’t spoken in over a decade, and there were some personal issues to overcome.

It ended up being one of the most rewarding efforts I've ever undertaken, but it took time. I also had gone through a couple of indie labels that wanted to do the Starcastle stuff. It ended up that they were unable to help us, so I formed Sunsinger Records for the band and used Chronos I to launch the label.

I do my work out of Pogo Studio in Champaign, IL and Mark Rubel (the owner) is essentially giving me Starcastle time in the studio on spec and that means I must work around his paying customers. We also have to work around the schedules of the 10 guys in the band. This has lead to seriously long periods of downtime.

When we spoke in a previous interview a few years ago, you mentioned a 30-minute opus that would be included in Chronos I, making up more than enough to put a full length CD out there. What ended up happening to that song, and if it still exists, will it see the light of day in another album? Speaking of new songs on new Starcastle albums, does that also seem to be a possibility?

Yes. On this CD coming up. We are planning on calling the new CD Returning Delirium. There are several pieces near completion for the new CD. Most of the new CD is in the can, but we’ve had to stop again to find a replacement for Terry. He is on the CD but not on every piece. The longest piece is being tentatively called 'The Renegade Song Cycle' and is based on an Herb Schildt concept. There is enough material floating around for this piece that it could still be 30 minutes. We had originally thought that we would put 'Interregnum' from the Steve Tassler’s solo CD into this large piece, but the delays forced Tass to release it himself.

When last we spoke, you told me that you had all the original members from the first version of the band together again for the recording. You also said that you did not think that an actual tour would happen if for no other reason that except for yourself and Matt, the rest were all over America living different lives…now I read in the Starcastle news section that Terry has left the band project once more. Does that seem permanent?

Well, once again, what I said before is proving to be the opposite of the reality of things. There is probably going to be a touring version of Starcastle. We already have the band personnel in place. We are waiting for the release of the new CD before we go out, that is the plan. I would love to play with Terry again, but at least for now he seems happy with his choice.

Have you made much progress with his replacement?

We have found our new singer. His name is Al Lewis. We were sort of lead to each other by Dr. La Duca of Progfest in Bethlehem, PA. Al is the vocalist and percussionist with another Prog group called Alaska. I was shocked at how close his voice was to Terry’s and very pleased and excited when he came out here to start recording his parts. He is quite talented.

Herb was at the first sessions and was as thrilled as I about working with him. I may even play some bass on the next Alaska CD.

And if a complete crew could be cobbled together, would you consider occasional gigs at Prog fairs and so forth?

We plan on playing anywhere that people will have us.

Now on to eleven to the fourth twice…how did it come to pass that you constructed this project?

Well, as I say in the liner notes, I was interested in ambient music as a teenager. I still own Morton Subotnick and Wendy Carlos recordings, both on CD and vinyl. When everyone else my age was listening to the pop stars of the week, I was drifting off to Sonic Seasonings, Silver Apples of The Moon, 4 Butterflies and other experimental compositions.

So when I found out how to use fractal programs to compose ambient pieces, I became almost possessed with the work. I ended up using software that allowed me to insert certain numerical values to the equations and to the music, and then set out to make music that sounded right to me.

It ended up being a marriage of ancient occult numerology and modern Chaos theory that is being expressed. I actually feel that the two apparently distant approaches to math seem related to me.

One of the most interesting aspects is that they both try to define the subtler states of our universe. It also allowed me to torture digital samples to get the sounds on the CD, but that’s just the fun stuff.

It actually took eight months to get the pieces to where I thought they should be. I can’t gauge how well they melded, but I do like some of the pieces. Only four out of about ten pieces actually survived. There is a possibility that these works will be used in a few planetariums next year. I’m also working on a multi-channel live show for this year.

Was it a clear decision to not use electric bass at all, or did you toss it around a bit before pursuing only electronic instrumentation?

It was my idea to do an album of ambient synthesis that was in the tradition of Morton Subotnick and Wendy Carlos. Bass guitar did not seem correct for that. In fact, it never entered the thought process. I guess that after being a bassist for 35 years and being known as a bassist, it seemed somehow right to me to have no bass on my first solo project.

Once, many moons ago I owned a magazine on electronic music, instrumental music, new age and prog as well. Over time I noticed that a lot of the stuff was becoming mundane, uninspired. Like most forms of popular culture it began to all sound the same.

It got to the point that if I heard one more cricket chirping, one more fruitbat, one more wave upon the beach, one more “Ommmmm”, didgerdoo, another herd of birds chirping, paint drying, et al, one more (per)version of Pacabel’s Canon, I think I might have ‘ralphed’. A great deal of the early New Age stuff was great, but it turned into pabulum very quickly. There seemed to be an inherent spiritual dishonesty to all of that saccharine sounding crapporama that put me off as well.

Then along comes eleven to the fourth twice from this brilliant bass player, and I wonder what is up here! I know you are too good a player to put out drivel, cop out or jump ship, so I figure there must be a story behind all this. After listening a few times, I realize that it is not in fact New Age, but something entirely different, something that needed investigating.

I must agree. In fact I feel that if any of these composers have done just the slightest investigation into the spirituality that they try to represent, they would KNOW that their approach to the composition hinders rather than aids the very energy they are trying to generate.

If there is a psycho-acoustic validity to music, it works through harmony. Music requires harmonic notes to be at a relative frequency in order to work in the desired fashion. If you were attempting to enhance meditations or ceremonies with sound, you would need to know the 'frequencies' associated with the idea and apply them to your musical work. This point is actually the experiment that we are always running when we compose something. I certainly had it in mind for the eleven to the fourth twice works.

The nature of the soul, now THAT is a fascinating subject.

I have studied the soul very seriously for a very long time. The key word here is 'study'. I recall writing a report on the religion of the Inca’s when I was in the 6th grade. The way that people justify hatred and murder in the name of God has always been an interest of mine. We all want to have a 'cosmic' good and evil to help us define our behavior and others.

Both of these systems have their zealots that worship blindly what is written. Both systems also have valid points that the other can’t refute. If you step outside those systems, however, you see that they need each other to be complete.

Science defines physical existence to the best of its ability, but falls short on subjects like love or creativity or immortality. It needs an irrational system to take over on these types of things and religions to fill that void.

Will there be future projects that are a continuation of Eleven?

I have no plans for anything past the Planetarium shows, and I’m talking with another synthesist named Paul Ellis on a possible collaboration, but you never know.

And the inevitable question, will there be a Chronos II and if so, when do you hope to have it come to pass?

If there is another Chronos, it will be another archive type of release, and for right now we are focusing on the new material and the next studio CD.

Can you tell us a bit about the Magus project and any other ventures you are working in now or in the future?

Bruce and I met Andrew Robinson at Progfest a couple of years ago and we hit it off. He had the same sense of humor that we did (poor guy) and we just stayed in touch. I told him that I would be interested in playing on his next CD, and when he had a piece that he thought would work for me, he sent me a copy and I put my ideas down.

I didn’t know at the time that he was using ambient electronic interludes between some of his pieces. I heard the final mix before I finished 11 and was very happy that I had decided to play on his CD.

Andrew is trying to put together a new group with me and Bruce and a couple of guys from a couple of other Prog groups, and that is very interesting to me as well. I’m also talking with a few other people about electronic projects and Prog rock productions. We'll just have to see what turns up.

If you could somehow travel back in time, what would you have done differently than was done in the Starcastle days?

We should’ve taken time off and changed record companies & management before our fourth album. No one in the band is happy with what happened.

Thoughts until the next time then...?

I’d like to once again thank all of the fans and even the doubting throngs that have given us their support and listening time over the years. Seeing as how Starcastle had quite a long break, we want to let you know that we appreciate your part in our success. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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Global Bass talks with Gary Strater

Brilliant Melodic Bassist for `70 U.S. Progressive Giants - Starcastle
After a 20 year hiatus the boys in the band have decided to begin

Putting Things Right

@ Global Bass
Most of us at one time or another have had the great good fortune of stumbling across some never-heard-before piece of music by some incredible yet unknown band. Sometimes this discovery can be of such a magnitude that it can even shape the course we take as musicians ourselves.

The actual ‘discovery’ of such a group might be nothing more than just a case of being in the right place at the right time, talking to the right friend or fellow musician or just overhearing a conversation at a bar.

In my own particular case, my great fortune came in the form of the right friend in the right job at the right time. I hadn’t been into that particular record store in more than half a year, but the guy that worked there knew my tastes in music. I had been chasing this new phenomenon called Progressive Rock for about 4 or 5 years at the time, tracking down anything from bands like YES, King Crimson, ELP at so forth. Catching my attention the minute I flew into the store, my friend immediately dragged me to a listening booth. This was still at a time when vinyl, progressive rock, turntables and listening booths were commonplace, way back in `75.

All he said to me as he pushed me into the booth was, “This is Starcastle and you are going to love `em!”

Now here it is, 25 years later, as I sit here typing this, while one of my favorite Progressive bands of all time plays in the background on the CD player. These days I have no idea whatever happened to that friend of mine, having long since lost track of him, but I am grateful to this very day that he introduced me to the band on the CD player: Starcastle.

Now don’t get me wrong, I am not lost in the `60’s and `70’s, and there are very few groups from those days I still listen to. I tend to live in the musical ‘here and now’, yet there are some people, some groups and some musicians you just can’t walk away from. Starcastle was always one of the few bands that stayed close to my ‘musical heart’, and one of the very few from that era that I have not grown tired of or grown beyond.

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Seldom even today can many bands boast a bass player the level of Starcastle’s, Gary Strater. While listening to any of their recordings, though they be over 20 years old, the sheer melodic power of his playing leaps out and pushes its way through the music. The advanced technical skill and melodic sensibilities he had access to often created songs within songs, with bass lines so tuneful to the ear that you found you were humming them separately from the rest of the music. That was skill!

Much has been said of Starcastle’s musical resemblance to YES. The fact of the matter was that in many distinct ways, when it came down to the sheer ability to make beautiful music consistently throughout an album, Starcastle could be relied upon to stand toe to toe with YES.

Unlike YES, for Starcastle there were no massive bouts of atonality or dissonance. They could be counted upon to place the song first and the player second. Solos were placed in a song because they were a statement that added to the song. They were a band, not 5 or 6 soloists working under a revolving door policy. That ‘group mentality’ was perhaps why there were no personnel changes their entire recording career.

It was only by their fourth and lamentably last album the pressure from record label executives drove the band to produce Pop Pap. Some Progressive Pop bands and Styx in particular were able to pull it off with songs like ‘Lady’, but ultimately this direction marked the end for Starcastle. The original intent of Starcastle was not to kow-tow to marketers, it had been to produce some first class progressive classical rock. Instead, they fell victim to one more example of trying to fix something that just wasn’t broken in the first place. It must have come as no surprise to the members of Starcastle at this point that all of this manipulation resulted ultimately in the bands demise.

There is some rather good news however on the not-to-distant horizon for those who were and still are Starcastle fans. In conversation with Gary Strater we learned of plans to release at least one more new album (and possibly two) with the original lineup of Starcastle. Fans of the band know that their disappointing fourth album ‘REEL TO REAL’ left fans flat and band members disgusted.

It turns out that after all these years the boys in the band have been climbing the walls to put things right. It drove them crazy seeing things end they way that they did. More of this later though, for now let’s take a moment and find out how the original band got started.

First things first, shall we address the endless YES comparisons and get that out of the way?

You know people always talked about that stuff, as if it’s a bad thing to be compared to somebody but, I know that even Yes was panned in the British magazines as being nothing more Beatle clones when they first came out.

Let’s go back in time here and cover how the band started.

It started here in Champaign, (Illinois), Steve (Tassler) and Herb (Schmidt) were in a band. This is actually kinda funny! They had a bass player that was just ungodly, but he was into jazz fusion and stuff and he had an upright and a Jazz Bass. They were leaning towards cover material like Traffic and other jazz influenced music. Herb was a little more into more into the Classical stuff, he was taking music at the University of Illinois. He had done some Bach pieces on piano and stuff like that. I was their roadie because I had a van! I took Herb a copy of the first ELP album. The bass player in Herb’s band had an attitude problem, he was a star in his own mind. So they knew they were going to change the band and they didn’t want to work with him. I had my first ‘Rick’(enbacker) at that time. I had a good-sized bass rig and I had a van!

That last part about the van probably sealed it!

That was the killer, ‘You’ve gotta van! We can put up with him’. I turned them onto this whole synthesizer thing that Herb had not really paid much attention to. I think the first decision we made as an actual group was to buy the first Moog that was to hit Champaign. We immediately started to try covering Emerson, Lake and Palmer tunes. Our real influences when it came to music and vocals back then, I was already way way into Electronic Music even at that time, and vocally Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. (Steve) Hagler wrote all the lyrics to those albums, he was very much into the artistic approach to poetry as opposed to just telling a story. He was trying to paint word pictures. That’s where the whole thing got started. Yes just happened to be doing the same thing, and we certainly understood and agreed with their influences.

Addressing your remarkable understanding of melodic bass playing, you started playing at a time when very few bassists were doing much more than reinforcing the guitar lines. Why the departure from the time tested and well worn path?

I was actually a trumpet player for 9 years. I started listening to the guys that could really play and said `whoa! I don’t get it!’ I just picked up a bass at 14 and I could just sort of do it, you know? I literally only took about 3 lessons but the schooling that I had in music was all melodic. Even listening to the Beatles as a kid, all of their stuff was so melodic, all of their compositions were melodic.

Starcastle’s surreal artwork on the albums has been referred to as Roger Dean-like, were the paintings also the work of one artist?

No, not at all. Alex Ebel did the first one, that one was the one that won all the awards. He had actually been an animator for Disney. The second album was done by a guy whose name I can’t remember, but he did a lot of work for (Jefferson) Starship. We didn’t pick the guys for the art, we wanted to, but the label was overpowering us.

On the liner notes from the first album it refers to a van accident that was the turning point for you as a bar band. That you were hammering up and down the road playing bars just like anyone else, but the accident forced you to draw a line in the sand, so to speak.

Well at that point we’d already had a lot success. We were pretty well one of the biggest bands in the mid-west. We were touring a five State area, if not bigger, and drawing large crowds to large clubs. At that point, we already had a set because we already had the first album written. We were performing that in our first set and then we did cover tunes.

Even then and in a first set, the original tunes went over well?

Yeah, it really did!

The time was right for Progressive stuff as well.
Yeah, it was part of the Movement.

Apparently, there is a live album out on Renaissance Records? Yeah, that’s a bootleg. We had nothing to do with it. I believe that’s one of the King Biscuit Flower Hour or one of the BBC things we did. There are 2 live shows floating around.

For this new material, what label are you working with?

It’s SONGHAUS Records, and I believe there’s a new label around it called Aeria. They have worldwide distribution so it should be all over the place.

Lineup-wise, who from the original group are in this new project?

ALL OF THEM!

How did you manage that! I had heard that after REEL TO REAL, things were pretty rough.

They were. The label beat us up pretty bad. It was the `70’s. There were too many women, too many drugs, and too many egos. Mine was definitely involved in it. I was losing my mind as well as everybody else was. We just got pressured to go in directions that we should have never tried to go in. That frankly is my view, and now looking back and talking to everybody else, they all feel the same thing. When the fourth album (again REEL TO REAL) was done, when my vocal and bass parts were done, I just walked out. I felt that it sucked, that I couldn’t do this anymore!

Were you still writing your own bass parts or where they even being handed to you?

No I was writing them, but the material that we were forced to lean towards was so not what we were good at.

Who was making these decisions to turn you into a pop group?
Oh the label was always pressuring us for singles. It’s what they do, they sell plastic. There’s really nothing ‘wrong’ with that, it’s just that they shouldn’t assume that they know anything about music. They still do it, but they really don’t know a thing about music. It’s not what they deal in, it’s not the business they are in.

NOTE: It would be interesting to do a poll of record label staff and see how many of them can actually play an instrument or sing and how many have actually been in a performing or recording group! Not that they would tell you! It’s certain they would figure out what we were up to fairly quickly, but it would be fun to try!

‘Product’ is what they call it, ‘Product’. It could be hairspray, tires or cans of paint, it’s just Product. I recall heading into one of the major labels here in Canada. I had to drop off copies of a mag I was working on for delivery to various department heads. As I was waiting for the shipper, I looked down row upon row of boxes with UPC codes on them. No album or artist names, UPC codes only. I hear a high pitched horn and a small front end loader barrels around the corner and into the aisle I am waiting in. The shovel is full to the top with CD’s, a mish-mash of deletes and artistic creations that just couldn’t sell a million. The little vehicle rushes up to what is obviously some sort of compactor and tosses all those dreams into the mouth of the machine. I can see a few thousand other albums in there already. Yup, product.

Even back then when they were doing the vinyl stuff, it was just vinyl. The good vinyl would go into the Pop albums and the crappier vinyl was going to Deutch-Grammophon. Like ‘What are you guys thinking about? You’re recording Beethoven here (on the crap vinyl), what are you screwing with this for?

The CD’s that are being made now of your earlier albums, do you get money for these?

Ah boy, now there’s a touchy subject!

Should I leave it alone?

(Pauses a lonnnnggg time) No, I mean, we’re looking into it but not too heavily. No we have received no money for it and um, when the organization fell apart in `78 or `79 and the management company went one way and one by one we all went our separate ways. There was a lot of unfinished business. I just don’t know what the agreement was and frankly none of us do, the agreement that the management company made with the record company. I knew there was a huge six-figure debt. The recording costs and the touring costs were much more than we actually made. So it’s possible that there was a released signed by the management company that sort of let go of all future royalties to just pay the debt. I don’t really know if that is actually the case, if there was an actual agreement. It’s more a theory of mine. Now they haven’t returned a call to me since 1979! (Laughs) But I would tend to think now that it’s not a big enough figure to lose any sleep over. None of us in the group have any interest to bet on the lawyer fees to find it.

You’d probably just end up no further ahead and all stressed out for nothing!

Yeah, just a lot of frustration for almost nothing.

Am I safe in saying that the crap you put with when you were 25, you would never put up with now?

That’s why I will never deal with a major label again. When we started putting this thing back together again, (I had lived in California for about 10 years), but we got back here and started looking around to see who was still here that was from back then. We talked about the feeling that it would be kind of nice to look at some of the stuff we never released and maybe put it together. Over the past few years we’ve been chipping away at it.

Was it difficult tracking the other folks down?

I had difficulty finding Steve Haggler but I finally made that connection.

Was he pleased to hear from you?

Yeah, because we had a kind of a falling out!

You have to look back, as you said, at the times and at your ages.

Not only that, even on an individual level, we were all crazy! As long as you take some responsibility at some level, there is not much more than you can do about it.

Bringing us back to the here and now, what is the new album going to be called?

‘Chronos’, I believe.

How may cuts on it?

I don’t know yet, we’ve got a ton of material. I know that what we’re going to do is stuff that was written as far back as `78.

Will they still be longer cuts?

Oh yeah, these are all going to be progressive. This is going to be NOTHING like the fourth album. This is going to more like the first one. The reason I can’t really say how many cuts are going to be on this is because there is a major piece being worked on and I can’t foresee it being less than 30 minutes long.

In days gone by the average length of an album was 38 to 40 minutes long. With CD’s you have up to 74 minutes. Do you have enough to fill that much time?

I think we’re pretty much gonna take up all that time on what we’ve got here, because I know that even without that long piece we’ve got probably at least 35 minutes already waiting around to be recorded. It’s gonna be long! Yeah, we’re not worrying about airplay anymore!

One of the things that I noticed, at least on the vinyl that I had, the bass was mixed a little further back that I thought you would have been looking for, considering the way you played and the bass you were using (the Rickenbacker). Have you heard any of the CD versions of these albums?

I’ve heard the first CD and I felt the mix from the master was better than the vinyl. I thought it sounded better and that the bass was more audible.

On the new album are you holding a decent position mix wise. Will we be able to hear you?

Well considering I am producing the whole thing I am pretty sure I can make sure it’s there! (Laughs)

Technology has embraced many new areas for bass players. Have you looked at some of the midi devices now available for this new album?

I don’t like the stuff that’s being married together. My whole point in having bass pedals was to let them handle the low notes while I was doing other things on the bass itself. There is physics involved that makes successful bass synthesis more difficult than it needs to be. It just takes longer for a bass wave to set up. Hex pickups (used on many midi set-ups) obviously take longer to trigger.

I came across a picture of you from some time back and you were playing an Alembic. Do you still have one and what do you think of them?

Yeah I’ve still got one. Oh they are fabulous! I bought mine in `85 from Sue Wickersham herself (of Alembic), back when I lived in California and I went up to their factory.

So here it is, how long do you think it will actually be before the new one is actually printed and distributed? It will be later this year.

(An update: I spoke to Gary again in late February and it appears all is on schedule for a late 2000 release. As with most things creative, it’s all a matter of bucks. Here’s an idea though, how `bout we ALL prepay a copy of CHRONOS now and that’ll make sure we don’t have to wait one minute longer that late 2000? It’s just a thought!)

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The world has changed. Critics of Prog Rock will say simply that world has ‘moved on’. Even for myself until I entered the world of the Internet, I thought it was an era gone by. On the Internet however, now I find dozens of websites and to my complete joy, hundreds of bands, many with albums. Although the big labels want nothing to do with Progressive music, the smaller fledgling ones and the Indie labels are embracing them the way a lot of bands who want lower overhead and more creative input are going. With that in mind, how do you propose to position Starcastle?

Oh, we are going to market it as Progressive Rock. Back then when it first came out it was also known as Art Rock, and we’re falling into that thing again. Art Rock went a different way, David Bowie sort of took it over and went his way with it. It was great, don’t get me wrong, it just went a different direction. We’re gonna be using Hammond B-3’s, lots of voices, real guitars. Not a whole lot of digital sampling going on. It’s gonna be played music.

If there was a lot of interest, would you consider touring?
There’s no way that we could tour with the original 6 guys. These people now have teenage kids and the responsibilities of an adult. A physician doesn’t call in sick for 3 months! I just know there would have to be other people to be involved to actually perform the stuff on a regular basis. There is a possibility I could talk Herb into playing a couple of gigs but they would have to be local.

So if this is more of a case of putting things right, putting ‘paid’ to the whole deal, what do you as a musician have planned for the future?

Well there a couple of things…I’ve got this producer things going and some other people talking to me about producing their stuff. In the long long term, if the record company likes us and the CD is well received…there’s enough material that there might be another Starcastle album to follow this one. If I get this process down that I’ve got with the guys in the group now it’s relatively painless in terms of lifestyle changes.

So much like another mid `70’s band named Klaatu, in effect you could just continue releasing albums and not even really have to tour at all!

Yeah, exactly!

Any final words for those of us waiting to hear from Starcastle once more?

There’s something I would like you to help me get out to the whole world. It’s that it’s not the point that this band is getting back together, because we’re not. Herb is now a world renowned computer technical author for McGraw Hill, Steve Tassler is now a physician up in Chicago, Steve Hagler is a marketing exec for somebody down in St. Louis. Terry, Matt and I are pretty much musicians with oddball day jobs here and there.

So the band is not actually reforming so to speak?
No we’re not getting together, but we all have the same motivation. We all felt that the fourth album was wrong and the subsequent vibe that came down within the band at the end of that was soooo wrong. We had definite goals for the band in the beginning and we didn’t get a chance to finish it.

This will to be a way for us the write the final chapter the way we wanted it written instead of the way the record companies wanted it written. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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Gary Strater & Rickenbacker

Gary Strater: A Tribute

Eric Abrahamsen @ Bass Inside
Gary StraterProgressive Rock Bassist Gary Strater, age 51, bassist for 70’s luminaries Starcastle, has passed away after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Even in the months prior to his passing he was still posting positive, hopeful and upbeat messages on the Starcastle website, addressing his illness but still ever determined to continue his musical interests.

An interview with Gary from an earlier issue of Bass Inside (check here) featured conversations about plans to properly put paid to the legacy of this prominent American progressive rock band from the 70’s. Recording four albums with Epic/CBS and touring for a number of years in that decade brought the band a fair bit of notoriety. They headlined often but also opened for such contemporaries as Rush, Journey, Styx, Boston and others of that genre. In later incarnations of the band, often with the sole presence of Gary as original member, he continued to work and build the fan base.

Gary’s use of Rickenbacker basses and later Alembic as well, augmented by his inventive and highly melodic bass lines naturally brought him to the attention of bass players. Starcastle was sometimes referred to as a ‘Yes-lite’, and though some felt the label might be considered somewhat derogatory, the band actually considered it to be a compliment. According to Gary, it was in fact an honour to be considered in such esteemed company.

The band liner notes from the first album refer to the choice to create the band’s new sound to counter a reality check brought about by a touring bus accident. It was at time decided that they dedicate the rest of their time to pursue the music that made the most sense to them and to drop the bar-band mentality they had fallen into.

In recent years, with the help of the network created by the Internet, progressive music has had resurgence in popularity and the image of Starcastle has grown with it. It was in part due to that resurgence that working with Sunsinger Records representative Eric Abrahamsen, Gary gathered the original band together again to complete Chronos I, a CD length album released in 2001. Though he expressed the thought that the bands original line-up would not tour again, as most of the members had gone on to diverse and sometimes non-musical careers, it was his dream to have the input of those original members. He felt they were there, they paid the price, they should have a say in the in the final analysis.

That need for clarification and a final word was based upon the general consensus amongst the band members and many of their fans that the band was terminated before its time by the insistence from the record label that they embrace an even more pop sensibility, searching for the radio single, a record label prime directive. It twisted them in directions they never wished nor intended to go. The fourth album, Real to Reel (1978), left a bitter taste with the band, filled with tunes they ultimately felt uncomfortable with. That album title had very little to do with reality at all as far as the band was concerned.

The album Chronos I from 2001 was constructed to be in effect the final actual word on what the band was really about. This CD was constructed of songs from the original tapes and versions of the songs that initially brought them their recording contract. Though perhaps not as polished as the studio albums, if only because it consisted of earlier versions of the songs in some case, the strength of the tunes and the strong playing and in all likelihood the optimism of something at that time new, shine forth in this CD. Though somewhat dated sounding now (the songs are actually from 1972 though 1977), it was a true representation of what the band was about in that time. The songs also were key in the original signing of the band to a major label.

It was Gary’s desire to release a follow-up to this CD. According to news from Sunsinger Records apparently that wish was in fact realized. We have included as a footnote to this article some words from Eric Abrahamsen of Sunsinger as well as fellow engineer and close friend Mark Rubel of Pogo Studios in Champaign, Illinois, a studio Gary worked as engineer these past years. Gary did release a solo project in recent years, entitled ‘eleven to the fourth twice’.

To the surprise of most bassists however it was what he referred to as an ‘ambient album’, completely without his signature bass playing. In conversations with Bass Inside, he laughingly injected that perhaps he should have also gone the solo bass route. For his many bass fans, sadly, that will not happen…

Gary worked as an engineer in a successful recording studio in Champagne, Illinois called Pogo Studio. Mark Rubel, a long time friend of Gary’s as well as a co-worker at Pogo includes here a tribute to Gary.

As a last word, a note from Sunsinger Records label executive and long time friend of Gary’s:

The first time I met Gary Strater was at Pogo studios in Champaign, IL on a cold, grey afternoon. To say I was nervous would be an understatement. I had been a Starcastle fan since the mid-1970’s, meeting one of my musical idols with the hope of making something ‘happen’ for a band that deserved far more than they received. My nervousness quickly melted away simply because of Gary’s personality and his approachable nature. He was an outstanding bass player with a strong melodic feel, but more than that he was a good person who cared about his family, friends and yes, the fans.

After that first meeting which included vocalist Terry Luttrell and guitarist Matt Stewart, we shook hands and said our goodbyes. Walking down the street to my car, I heard someone shout "Eric!" I turned around and saw Gary standing in the doorway of the studio. "Thanks for comin’ down man" he said. "Have a safe trip back." This is the Gary Strater I will remember. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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The Earliest Days of the Electric Guitar

@ Rickenbacker

The Rickenbacker International Corporation (RIC) grew out of the first company founded for the sole purpose of creating and manufacturing fully electric musical instruments and amplifiers-the Los Angeles-based Electro String Instrument Corporation. Founded in 1931 by Adolph Rickenbacker and George D. Beauchamp, this pioneering firm produced "Rickenbacker Electro Instruments", the first modern electric guitars. RIC's history now spans 76 years in business on the leading edge of music trends that have changed popular culture forever. Played by Hawaiian musicians of the 1930s to jazz bassists of the 1990s, by the Beatles and Byrds to the most-current rock groups on MTV, the ringing sound of Rickenbacker instruments has helped define music as we know it. Never resting on its laurels, RIC continues to ignite and propel the electric guitar's transformation of music by providing today's musicians with the finest instruments available.

It all began in 1920s Los Angeles, a city fast becoming the entertainment capital of the world. Like many of his contemporaries, steel player George Beauchamp (pronounced Beechum) sought a louder, improved guitar. Several inventors had already tried to build louder stringed instruments by adding megaphone-like amplifying horns to them. Beauchamp saw one of these and went looking for someone to build him one, too. His search led to John Dopyera, a violin repairman with a shop fairly close to Beauchamp's L.A. home.

Dopyera and his brother Rudy's first attempt for George sat on a stand; a Victrola horn attached to the bottom and pointed towards the audience. It was a failure, so the Dopyeras then started experiments with thin, cone-like aluminum resonators attached to a guitar bridge and placed inside a metal body. A successful prototype (soon dubbed "the tri-cone") used three of these resonators. Beauchamp, so pleased with the results, suggested forming a manufacturing company with the Dopyeras, who had already started making more guitars in their shop. Setting out to find investors, he took the tri-cone prototype and the Sol Hoopii Trio (a world-famous Hawaiian group) to a lavish party held by his millionaire cousin-in-law, Ted Kleinmeyer. He was so excited about the guitar and the prospects for a new company that he gave Beauchamp a check for $12,000 that night.

Substantial production of the metal-body guitars began almost immediately. Beauchamp, acting as general manager, hired some of the most experienced and competent craftsmen available, including several members of his own family and the Dopyeras. He purchased equipment and located the new factory near Adolph Rickenbacker's tool and die shop. Rickenbacker (known to his friends as Rick) was a highly skilled production engineer with experience in a wide variety of manufacturing techniques. Swiss-born, he was also a relative of WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. Well equipped to manufacture metal bodies for the Nationals, Adolph owned one of the largest deep-drawing presses on the West Coast and soon carried the title of engineer in the National Company.

Unfortunately, the seeds for an internal dispute within National were planted in the very beginning. By late 1928 the Dopyeras became very disgruntled with the management of company and resources. John Dopyera, who rightfully considered himself an inventor, ironically thought that Beauchamp wasted time experimenting with new ideas. Dopyera and Beauchamp lived in two different worlds and apparently were at odds on every level of personal, business and social interaction. That they could not work together successfully was a foregone conclusion. Another problem was Ted Kleinmeyer, who had inherited a million dollars at 21 and was trying to spend it all before turning 30 (when he would inherit another million). A Roaring '20s party animal, successful losing money faster than he could make it, he started hounding Beauchamp for cash advances from National's till. George's fault was that he could not turn people down, especially his friends and the company's president.

John Dopyera quit and formed the Dobro Corporation, but maintained National stock. The Dopyera brothers would eventually win more in a court settlement. Then Ted Kleinmeyer, nearly broke (and a few years away from the rest of his inheritance), sold his controlling interest in the concern to another Dopyera, brother Louis. In a shakeup that followed, Beauchamp and several other employees were fired. Now George needed a new project and a new company, fast.

Along with others of his day, he had thought about the possibility of an electric guitar for several years and, though not schooled in electronics, had started experimenting as early as 1925 with PA systems and microphones. Early on he made a single-string test guitar out of a 2x4 board and a pickup from a Brunswick electric phonograph. This experiment shaped his thinking and put him on the right path. After leaving National, he began his home experiments in earnest and attended night-school classes in electronics.

By 1930 many people familiar with electricity knew that a metal moving through a magnetic field caused a disturbance that in turn could be translated into an electric current by a nearby coil of wire. Electrical generators and phonograph pickups utilized different applications of this principle. The problem building a guitar pickup was creating a practical way of translating the strings' vibration directly into a current. After many months of trial and error, George developed a pickup that consisted of two horseshoe magnets. The strings passed through these and over a coil, which had six pole pieces concentrating the magnetic field under each string. (Conducting work on his dining room table, he used the motor out of the family washing machine to wind the coil. Paul Barth, who helped Beauchamp, said that they eventually used a sewing machine motor.)

When the pickup seemed to be doing its job, Beauchamp called on Harry Watson, a skilled craftsman who had been National's factory superintendent, to make a wooden neck and body for it. In several hours, carving with small hand tools, a rasp, and a file, the first fully electric guitar took form. It was nicknamed the "Frying Pan," for obvious reasons. Anxious to manufacture it, Beauchamp enlisted his friend Adolph Rickenbacker. With Adolph's help, know-how, ideas, and capital were abundant. The first name of the company was Ro-Pat-In Corporation but was soon changed to Electro String. Adolph became president and George secretary-treasurer. They called the instruments Rickenbackers because it was a famous name (thanks to cousin Eddie) and easier than Beauchamp to pronounce. Paul Barth and Billy Lane, who helped with an early preamplifier design, both had small financial interests in the company as production began in a small rented shop at 6071 S. Western Ave., next to Rickenbacker's tool and die plant. (Rick's other company still made metal parts for National and Dobro guitars and Bakelite plastic products such as Klee-B-Tween toothbrushes, fountain pens, and candle holders.)

Electro String had several obstacles. Timing could not have been worse--1931 heralded the lowest depths of the Great Depression and few people had money to spend on guitars. Musicians resisted at first; they had no experience with electrics and only the most farsighted saw their potential. The Patent Office did not know if the Frying Pan was an electrical device or a musical instrument. What's more, no patent category included both. Many competing companies rushed to get an electric guitar onto the market, too. By 1935 it seemed futile to maintain a legal battle against all of these potential patent infringements.

Hawaiian guitars (lap steels) would be the best known and most accepted 1930s Rickenbackers. Early literature illustrates both 6- and 7-string versions of the Frying Pan. Both had the same cast aluminum construction, compared with the prototype's wood. Over the years (this guitar would be available into the 1950s) two scale lengths would be offered: 22 1/2 inch and 25 inch. Workers stuffed the bodies and necks with newspapers, which today can provide a clue as to the guitar's date of manufacture. Soon after the Frying Pan, several additional steel models were offered, the most popular being the hard-plastic Bakelite Model B, later named Model BD. The earliest examples had a volume control and five decorative chrome cover plates on top. By the late 1930s they had both tone and volume controls and white-enameled metal cover plates. In the 1970s, David Lindley used a Bakelite steel on many recordings with Jackson Browne, proving the integrity of the original design in a modern context. Many players consider these lap steels the finest ever produced.

Electro String's first Spanish (standard) guitar had a flattop hollow body with small F-holes and a slotted-peghead. A bound neck joined at the 14th fret. By the mid-1930s, the concert-sized Ken Roberts Model (named after one of Beauchamp's guitar-playing friends) came out. It had a bound neck that joined the body at the 17th fret, a shaded 2-tone brown top with F-holes, and a Kauffman vibrato tailpiece. In the 1930s and 1940s there were at least two electric arch top models. The SP had a maple body, shaded spruce top, bound rosewood neck with large position markers, and a built-in horseshoe pickup. The Model S-59 sported a blonde finish and a narrow, detachable horseshoe pickup. This so-called "Rickenbacker Electro peerless adjustable pickup unit" was also available as a separate accessory and would attach to most F-hole style arch tops.

Despite the popularity of arch tops, the 1935 Bakelite Model B Spanish guitar made the most history for Rickenbacker. Though not entirely solid (it had thick plastic walls and a detachable Spanish neck), it achieved the desired result-virtual elimination of the acoustic feedback that plagued big-box electrics of the day. It set the stage for all solid body guitars to follow, even though it was difficult to play sitting down on the bandstand. (A Bakelite Spanish the size most guitarists were accustomed to would have been as heavy, literally, as a sack of bowling balls.) A variation of the Bakelite Spanish invented by Doc Kauffman (who would later become Leo Fender's first partner) was the Vibrola Spanish Guitar, an ungainly thing equipped with a motorized vibrato tailpiece. So heavy, it required a stand to hold it up.

From the very beginning Electro String developed and sold amplifiers. After all, the instruments worked only in conjunction with them. The first production-model amp was designed and built by a Mr. Van Nest at his L.A. radio shop. Shortly thereafter, Beauchamp and Rickenbacker hired design engineer Ralph Robertson to work on amplifiers. He developed the new circuitry for a line that by 1941 included at least four models. The speaker in the Professional Model was designed by James B. Lansing. Early Rickenbacker amps influenced, among others, Leo Fender who by the early 1940s repaired them at his radio shop in nearby Fullerton, California.

How did Rickenbacker guitars shape the 1930s music industry? Beauchamp had many friends and contacts in the entertainment community and as a result many stars used his instruments. Sol Hoopii and Dick McIntyre, to name just two popular Hawaiian steel guitarists, played Rickenbackers on countless influential recordings. Perry Botkin, who did many recording sessions with Bing Crosby and other Hollywood stars, used one of the few Vibrola Spanish Models. Les Paul owned a Rickenbacker. Electro String even made Harpo Marx an electric harp. A family of Rickenbacker Electro String Instruments was born, all using some variation of the horseshoe-magnet pickup. Besides guitars and mandolins, the company invented fully electric bass viols, violins, cellos and violas. An electric piano prototype sat in the firm's front office for years. Most of these instruments totally disregarded traditional styling. Rickenbacker realized that a fully electric instrument did not have to retain the appearance of its acoustical counterpart. This conceptual jump-the first of several Rickenbacker revolutions-liberated the thinking of designers to come.

By 1940, after fifteen years in the fast lane, Beauchamp became frustrated and disenchanted with the instrument business, partly due to his deteriorating health. His second passion, fishing and designing fishing lures, captured his attention. He patented one that he sought to manufacture; to raise the necessary capital he sold his shares in Electro String to Harold Kinney, Rickenbacker's bookkeeper. Soon after this, Beauchamp went deep sea fishing and had a fatal heart attack. His funeral procession was over two miles long. A true pioneer of electric instruments, he unfortunately did not live to see the electric guitar reach its full potential.

Adolph Rickenbacker had maintained other interests throughout Electro String's short history; he never had as much faith in the guitar business as his partners. Nevertheless, he continued instrument making until 1953 when he sold the company to F.C. Hall, a leading figure in the post-WWII Southern California music business. That sale marked the end of one era and the beginning of another, the dawn of modern Rickenbacker guitars. =>>>>>>>>>>>

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