Founded : 1967
New Haven, New Haven County, Connecticut, United States
Members:
Matt Lawton (lead guitar, rhythm guitar), Ben Mochan (bass, rhythm guitar, 12 string guitar, autoharp, dulcimer), Kevin Weaver (drums), Mark Lipson (organ, electric piano, 1967-69), Barry Buxbaum (lead vocals, tambourine, maracas), Ralph (organ, piano, 1969-70)
Matt Lawton and Ben Mochan had been friends for several years prior to forming this band, and had been performing together as well, primarily folk music. Ben met Mark Lipson, a high school student, and Kevin Weaver, a math teacher, around their mutual home area of southern Connecticut. They formed a band under the original working name of Zyme, but decided to change it when it came time to record. Jennifer was the name of a female guest and friend of the band, so the suggestion "Jennifer's Friends" was floated and approved. Around this time, Barry Buxbaum quit his existing band (only to be replaced by Michael Bolotin, later Michael Bolton) and joined the group as lead singer.
After recording some home-made demos, the band were able to secure a management contract with Schwade-Merenstein, who also handled Miriam Makeba. This management team was able to acquire some recording time with Buddha Records, where a number of tracks were laid down. Ultimately, only one single was ever released, with "Land of Make Believe" hitting the top 40.
The band also employed a part-time member in vocalist John Carney, nephew of actor Art Carney of "The Honeymooners" fame. John sang lead vocals on two of the unreleased Buddah tracks. The band was also offered a song to record that they decided to pass on, titled "The Worst That Could Happen". This was later recorded by the The Brooklyn Bridge, and went to number one on the charts. Jennifer's Friends had another close call with bigger success when they recorded a song titled "Lay Lady Lay". Bob Dylan's version was released a week prior and so the song was eventually cancelled by Buddah. They also wrote and recorded the musical score to the Michael Douglas film Hail, Hero!, but their version was passed over in favor of one recorded by Gordon Lightfoot
Barry Buxbaum became president/CEO of a health system in CT. Matt Lawton worked in hospital management, medical software, real estate, before moving to Florida. Ben Mochan was in advertising, and suffered a fatal boating accident. Mark Lipson became a cantor, then a Rabbi in CT. Kevin Weaver was involved in scientific software production in NY.
Their onу single charting on a local radio station there in the summer of 1968. Both sides of the 45 are excellent, with the A-side being more of a well crafted pop-psych orchestration and the B-side a slower piece.
Despite the fact that the group has only one single to their credit, they performed live from 1967 to 1970. Moreover, their tracks from the single are included in many compilations of psychedelic 60s collections, such as "Voyages Into...Psychedelia", "Voyages Into... Pop-Psych", "Discogadelia One: US Psych Pop And Acid Rock 45s", "Soft Sounds For Gentle People", "Lost Jukebox"...
01. Jennifer's Friends - Land Of Make Believe
(Written-By – Vanda & Young)
02. Jennifer's Friends - Visions
(Written-By – Buxbaum, Mochan, Lipson)
Plus
Various – Discogadelia One: US Psych Pop And Acid Rock 45s @ VBR
CDr, Limited Edition, Unofficial Release, Compilation 2007
A hard to find collection of psychedelic music from Gruppo Dyscographia Psiquedelik. And according to the information from Discogs, this is their only release under the title "A Free CD-r for the wonderful people of the Discogs Psychedelia group."
01. Heavy Breathing - I've Been There
02. Giant Crab - E.S.P.
03. Brotherhood (8) - Jump Out The Window
04. The Paisley Patterns - Doomsday Plus One
05. Jennifer's Friends - Visions
06. The Sundowners - Blue Green Eyes
07. Wayne Faro's Schmaltz Band - There's Still Time
08. The Curfew (2) - Photogenic Jenny
09. Snow (6) - Caterpillar
10. The New Phoenix - Give To Me Your Love
11. The Yellow Payges - The Two Of Us
12. Aorta - Shape Of Things To Come
13. Maypole - Show Me The Way
14. Oxpetals - Prune Growing In June
15. Childe Harold - Brink Of Death (Stereo)
16. Penny Nichols - Look Around Rock
Thanks for both.
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ReplyDeleteThanks very much Dmitrich, love the Jennifer's Friends single, & the bonus CD too!
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