H. P. Lovecraft (band)

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H. P. Lovecraft (band)

H.P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

CharacteristicsThe musical style typically features electric guitars, 12 strings being preferred for their 'jangle'; elaborate studio effects - backwards taping, panning , phasing, long delay loops and extreme reverb; exotic instrumentation, with a particular fondness for the sitar and tabla; A strong keyboard presence, especially Hammond, Far...
group in the 1960s, later resurrected with a revised line-up as Lovecraft in the 1970s. The band was named for the famous horror writer

H. P. Lovecraft

Howard Phillips Lovecraft was an United States author of horror fiction, fantasy fiction, and science fiction, known then simply as weird fiction....
. Originally formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1967, they relocated to San Francisco, California

San Francisco, California

The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States, with a 2007 estimated population of 799,183....
the following year.

History
H. P. Lovecraft fashioned a hybrid of acid

Acid rock

Acid rock is a form of psychedelic rock, which is characterized with long instrumental solos, few lyrics and musical improvisation. Tom Wolfe describes the Lysergic acid diethylamide-influenced music of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Doors, Cream, Jefferson Airplane, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Grateful Dead as "acid rock" in his...
-folk

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre, combining elements of folk music and Rock and roll.In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and Canada around the mid-1960s....
-rock and oddly striking vocal harmonies

Harmony

In Western music, harmony is the use of different pitches simultaneously, and chord s, actual or implied, in music. The word is related to the word "harmonic" which implies related wavelengths of waves....
from two contrasting sources.

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Encyclopedia

H.P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock

Psychedelic rock

H. P. Lovecraft

San Francisco, California

Lineup

The group included:

George Edwards (b. Charles Ethan Kenning
Ethan Kenning

Ethan Kenning is better known as George Edwards, leader of '60s acid-rock band, H.P. Lovecraft ....
, Chicago, 19 August 1943), vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, guitarron
Guitarrón

The guitarr?n is a very large, deep-bodied Mexican 6-string acoustic bass played in mariachi bands. Although obviously similar to the guitar, it is not a derivative of that instrument, but was independently developed from the sixteenth-century Spanish bajo de u?a....
, bass
Dave Michaels
Dave Michaels

Dave Michaels is a keyboard player and singer, best known as co-founder of the '60s acid rock band, H.P. Lovecraft . He appeared on both of the band's albums but left in September 1968 to return to college....
(b. David Miotke, Chicago, 15 December 1944), vocals, organ, piano, harpsichord, clarinet, recorder
Jerry McGeorge
Jerry McGeorge

Jerry McGeorge came to prominence in late 1965 as a guitarist with the Chicago rock music band The Shadows of Knight. He later joined acid rockacid-rock band H.P....
(b. Cincinnati, Ohio, 22 October 1945), bass, vocals - later replaced by Jeff Boyan
Tony Cavallari, lead guitar, vocals (b. Chicago, 1948)
Michael Tegza, percussion, tympani, vocals, drums (b. Chicago, 1949)

History

H. P. Lovecraft fashioned a hybrid of acid

Acid rock

Folk rock

Harmony

Musical ensemble

A musical ensemble is a group of two or more musicians who perform instrumental or vocal music. In each musical style different norms have developed for the sizes and composition of different ensembles, and for the repertoire of songs or musical works that these ensembles perform....
founder George Edwards

Ethan Kenning

Ethan Kenning is better known as George Edwards, leader of '60s acid-rock band, H.P. Lovecraft ....
had been a folk

Folk music

Folk music can have a number of different meanings, including:* Traditional music: The original meaning of the term "folk music" was synonymous with the term "Traditional music", also often including World Music and Roots music; the term "Traditional music" was given its more specific meaning to distinguish it from the other definition...
troubadour in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois and the Midwestern United States, as well as the List of United States cities by population city in the United States with more than 2.8 million residents....
, California

California

California is a U.S. state on the West Coast of the United States of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, Arizona to the southeast, and to the south the Mexico state of Baja California....
, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the northeast....
, and whose repertoire included covers of The Beatles

The Beatles

The Beatles were a rock music and pop music band from Liverpool, England that formed in 1960. During their career, the group primarily consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr ....
’ “Norwegian Wood” and Bob Dylan’s “Quit Your Low Down Ways”, as well as early songs by Fred Neil

Fred Neil

Fred Neil was an American blues and folk music singer and songwriter in the 1960s and early 1970s. He is best remembered for writing the top 40 hits "Candy Man" by Roy Orbison and "Everybody's Talkin'" by Harry Nilsson, as well as the rock standard "The Other Side of This Life", most famously covered by Jefferson Airplane....
and Terry Callier

Terry Callier

Terry Callier is an United States jazz, soul music and Folk music guitarist and singer-songwriter....
, with both of whom he played in clubs. Vocalist/keyboard player Dave Michaels, who had previously played in jazz

Jazz

Jazz is a primarily American musical art form which originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions....
groups with David Sanborn

David Sanborn

David Sanborn is an United States alto saxophone saxophonist. Though Sanborn has worked in many genres, his solo recordings typically blend jazz with instrumental Pop music and R&B....
, boasted a classical

Classical music

Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western art history Religious music and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times....
training and a four-octave

Octave

In music, an octave The octave is occasionally referred to as a diapason.The octave above an indicated note is sometimes abbreviated 8va, and the octave below 8vb....
range.

After covering Chip Taylor

Chip Taylor

Chip Taylor is the stage name of United States songwriter James Wesley Voight noted for writing the song, "Wild Thing ". Taylor's brothers are actor Jon Voight and geologist Barry Voight....
’s “Any Way That You Want Me” with members of Chicago band The Rovin’ Kind , Edwards and Michaels became the creative force behind the group. After getting clearance from the executor

Executor

An executor, in the broadest sense, is one who carries something out .Executor is also a legal term referring to a person named by a maker of a will , or nominated by the testator, to carry out the directions of the will....
s of the science fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft, they recruited Tony Cavallari (lead guitar), Mike Tegza (drums) and Jerry McGeorge

Jerry McGeorge

Jerry McGeorge came to prominence in late 1965 as a guitarist with the Chicago rock music band The Shadows of Knight. He later joined acid rockacid-rock band H.P....
(bass) (who had previously seen the group perform at The Cellar

The Cellar (teen dance club)

Located in Arlington Heights, Illinois, The Cellar teen nightclub provided consistently good live musical entertainment in the 1960s. Founded in 1964 by Paul Sampson , this music venue primarily featured Rock and Roll music acts, although some Blues acts performed as well....
, a dance club in the northwestern suburbs of Chicago ). A debut album

Album

An album or record album is a collection of related Sound recording and reproduction or music tracks distributed to the public. The most common way is through commercial distribution, although smaller artists will often distribute directly to the public by selling their albums at live concerts or on their websites....
for Philips

Philips Records

Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics giant Philips. It was started as Philips Phonographische Industries in 1950 in music....
, H. P. Lovecraft, soon followed.

Featuring a nine-piece orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is an Musical ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an theatre of ancient Greece reserved for the Greek chorus....
, it juxtaposed covers

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version, or simply cover, is a new rendition of a previously recorded, commercially released song.In its current use, it can sometimes have a pejorative meaning — implying that the original recording should be regarded as the definitive version, usually in the sense of an "authentic" rendition, and all...
such as Dino Valente’s hippie

Hippie

The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster , and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district....
anthem “Get Together” and the early Randy Newman

Randy Newman

Randall Stuart ?Randy? Newman is an Academy Award?winning United States singer/songwriter, arrangement, composer, singer and pianist who is notable for his wiktionary:mordant pop songs and for his many film scores....
ballad

Ballad (music)

In jazz and popular music, the term ballad denotes a short song in a slow tempo, usually with a romantic or sentimental text, though the term is also used for instrumental pieces....
“I’ve Been Wrong Before”, with band-written songs including the jazzy “That's How Much I Love You (More Or Less)” and vaudeville psychedelia in “The Time Machine”. A musical tribute to their novelist namesake, based on his short story

Short story

The short story refers to a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, usually in narrative format. This format or medium tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels or books....
“The White Ship”, was drenched in hallucinatory harmonies, droning feedback

Audio feedback

Audio feedback is a special kind of feedback which occurs when a sound loop exists between an audio input and an audio output . In this example, a signal received by the microphone is Amplifier and passed out of the loudspeaker....
, baroque harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when each Key is pressed....
passages and the chiming of a genuine 1811 ship’s bell.

Edwards and Michaels duel lead vocals distinguished the band's sound — influenced by Fred Neil's earlier work with Vince Martin

Vince Martin (singer)

Vince Martin is an American folk music singer and songwriter.He first recorded with the Tarriers in 1957, on the hit single Cindy, Oh Cindy....
—the intricate organ

Organ (music)

The organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard played either Manual or Pedal clavier. The organ is one of the oldest musical instruments in the European classical music....
and harpsichord work of Michaels, and the propulsive drumming of Tegza. Several of their songs attempted to communicate the eerie atmosphere of the writings of their namesake. Their power and imagination as a live group can be heard on Live at the Fillmore: May 11, 1968, recorded after McGeorge had been replaced by Jeffrey Boyan, and issued in the 1990s.

A second studio album, H. P. Lovecraft II, followed. Although recorded with the band in some disarray, it successfully developed their musical approach and stands as an exemplar of acid rock

Acid rock

Psychedelic

The word 'psychedelic' is an English term coined from the Greek language words for "soul," ???? , and "manifest," d???? . A psychedelic experience is characterized by the perception of aspects of one's mind previously unknown, or by the creative exuberance of the mind liberated from its ostensibly ordinary fetters....
effects were apparently created by engineer

Audio engineering

Audio engineering is a part of audio science dealing with the recording and reproduction of sound through mechanical and electronic means. The field draws on many disciplines, including electrical engineering, acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music....
Chris Huston

Chris Huston

Christopher J 'Chris' Huston is a leading British-born record engineer and guitarist.Huston arrived in Wallasey, near Liverpool, toward the end of World War II from an orphanage in North Wales....
, previously of Merseybeat band The Undertakers

The Undertakers

The Undertakers were a British beat group, contemporaries of The Beatles and a leading group in the Merseybeat music scene of the early 1960s....
. The album included another song based on a Lovecraft short story, “At the Mountains of Madness,” as well as a contribution from voice artist Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine

Ken Nordine is an United States voiceover and recording artist best known for his series of Word Jazz albums. His deep, resonant voice has also been featured in many advertisings and movie trailers....
on the track "Nothing's Boy", and songs by Terry Callier and others.

In late 1968, Michaels decided to leave the band to return to university, and H. P. Lovecraft effectively collapsed. A spin-off group, Lovecraft, reformed in the 1970s with Edwards and Tegza from the original line-up, but Edwards departed from the group very soon after. The group released two more poorly-regarded albums, but had little connection to the first incarnation of the band.

Edwards has subsequently played in folk clubs as Ethan Kenning

Ethan Kenning

Ethan Kenning is better known as George Edwards, leader of '60s acid-rock band, H.P. Lovecraft ....
, occasionally reuniting with Michaels who also performs as David Miotke.

Discography

H.P. Lovecraft (1967) - recorded in Chicago
H.P. Lovecraft II (1969) - recorded in California
Valley of the Moon [as Lovecraft] (1970)
We Love You Whoever You Are [as Lovecraft] (1975)

Compilations, best-of albums and rearranged material

At the Mountains of Madness (1988)
Live At the Fillmore: May 11, 1968 (1991)
Lovecraft / H.P. Lovecraft II (1997)
Dreams in the Witch House: The Complete Philips Recordings (2005)