Jo Jo Gunne — Jo Jo Gunne 1972 (USA, Hard-Blues Rock)

Jo Jo Gunne — Jo Jo Gunne 1972 (USA, Hard-Blues Rock)

The debut album by the Los Angeles band. Jay Ferguson (born John Arden "Jay" Ferguson) was born on May 10, 1947, and made his stage debut playing a mix of country and pop-folk in a high school band that later changed its name to the Oat Hill Stump Straddlers. In the first half of the 1960s, Ferguson enrolled at the University of Southern California and played in the garage band Western Union in the evenings, which was active in Southern California, though it didn't record. Bass guitar in Western Union was played by another university student, Mark Andes, who by that time had played in several semi-professional bands, including the locally renowned Marksmen. After Western Union broke up in 1965, Ferguson and Andes briefly lost touch: Ferguson played piano and sang in the garage band Red Roosters, led by veteran local jazz drummer Ed Cassidy, while Andes struggled to find his groove in the embryonic lineup of Canned Heat. Red Roosters soon disbanded, but Ferguson continued to attend classes, though he never abandoned his dreams of performing. In December 1966, Ferguson and Andes joined the band Spirit, where they remained for four years. In June 1971, they launched a new band, named after Chuck Berry's old rock 'n' roll hit "Jo Jo Gunne" from his 1959 album Chuck Berry Is On The Top. Jo Jo Gunne consisted of Jay Ferguson (piano, vocals), Mark Andes (bass, vocals), his younger brother Matthew "Matt" Andes (guitar, vocals), and Curly Smith (drums). Andes Jr. had never played anywhere before, and Smith moved to California from Texas with the band Pumpkin. Jo Jo Gunne played a completely traditional, yet quite melodic hard rock, the main authors of which were Ferguson and Mark Andes. Photogenic appearance and professionalism easily secured them the sympathy of the general public and the attention of the press. Already in the fall of 1971, the group signed a contract with the newly founded Asylum Records, and by March 1972 they recorded their self-titled debut album. Although the album itself only rose to number 57 on the Billboard charts, one of its songs, Run Run Run, was released as a single and was successful in both the US (#27) and Britain (#6).

Tracks:

01. Run Run Run - 0:00

02. Shake That Fat - 2:34

03. Babylon - 6:21

04. I Make Love - 10:26

05. Barstow Blue Eyes - 13:25

06. 99 Days - 16:45

07. Academy Award - 20:10

08. Take It Easy - 25:10

09. Flying Home - 30:00


Personnel:

Jay Ferguson - keyboards, vocals
Matthew Andes – guitar, vocals
Mark Andes - bass, vocals
William "Curly" Smith - drums, vocals
+
Tom Dowd – producer


⚠ If there are any copyright issues please contact me. I will remove the video.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use"