Blackburn & Snow

One Of The Most Interesting Folk-Rock Acts Of The 1960s To Totally Miss Out On Meaningful National Exposure The Male-Female Duo Of Jeff Blackburn And Sherry Snow Had A Lot Going For Them. Their Male-Female Harmonies Were Nearly On Par With Those Of The Early Jefferson Airplane And They Boasted A Wealth Of Fine Original Material By Blackburn That Deftly Combined Folk Rock Country And Light Psychedelic Influences Into A Melodic Blend That Was Both Commercial And Creatively Idiosyncratic. What They Didn't Have Was A Regular Release Schedule. Indeed There Were Only Two Poorly Distributed Singles On Verve Including The Classic "Stranger In A Strange Land " Before They Split Up In The Late 1960s. However They Did Record An Additional Album's Worth Of Quality Unreleased Material Which With The Singles Comprised A CD Of Their Work That Finally Came Out In 1999. Sherry Snow Began Playing Folk Music In California In The Early 1960s. Her Path Intersected With Those Of Other Struggling Folkies On The Scene That Would Become Folk-Rock And Psychedelic Rock Stars In A Few Years Such As Paul Kantner Of Jefferson Airplane And David Freiberg Of Quicksilver Messenger Service . In Fact She Lived In The Same Apartment As Kantner And Freiberg For A While In San Francisco In The Mid-1960s. In 1965 She Became A Romantic And Professional Couple With Guitarist And Songwriter Jeff Blackburn And The Pair Were Signed By Bay Area Music Entrepreneur Frank Werber Manager Of The Kingston Trio And The We Five. In Early 1966 With The Rhythm Section Of The We Five Blackburn & Snow Recorded "Stranger In A Strange Land " An Excellent Song Strongly Rumored To Have Been Written By David Crosby. Although It Was Credited To The Mysterious Samuel F. Omar The Rumor Is Given Credence By The Existence On A Bootleg Of Mid-1960s Byrds Material Of An Unreleased Instrumental Track Called "Stranger In A Strange Land " Which Has A Similar Melody To The Tune Cut By Blackburn & Snow. "Stranger In A Strange Land" Was Quite Progressive Folk-Rock For Its Era But Unfortunately For Obscure Reasons Would Not Be Issued For About A Year. In The Meantime Blackburn & Snow Continued To Record For Frank Werber's Production Company Trident Devoting Themselves Almost Exclusively To Blackburn Originals. Although Blackburn Had Not Written "Stranger In A Strange Land " His Compositions Were Similar In Their Unusual Shifting Melodies Frequent Haunting Use Of Minor Chords And Hazy Yet Pungent Lyrics Reflecting The Freewheeling Spirit Of The Embryonic San Francisco Hippie Counterculture. A Skilled Guitar Player With An Interesting Voice Not Unlike The Everly Brothers His Vocals Were Ably Complemented By The Soaring Higher Ones Of Snow Who According To Alec Palao's Liner Notes On Blackburn & Snow's Something Good For Your Head CD Declined An Offer To Replace Signe Anderson In The Jefferson Airplane In August 1966. Some Of The Tracks The Duo Recorded During This Period Usually With Various Electric Backing Musicians Including Bassist Harvey Brooks Country Joe & The Fish Drummer Chicken Hirsh And Los Angeles Session Guitarist Jerry McGhee Were In The Classic Folk-Rock Style With Ringing Guitars And A Light Rhythm Section. Others Exhibited A Strong Country Influence Or A Melancholy Nearly Or Totally Acoustic Ballad Feel That Recalled The Musicians' Coffeehouse Roots But With More Creative Melodies And Contemporary Expressive Lyrics Than Would Have Been Found In The Early 1960s Acoustic Folk Scene. Like The Other Acts Signed To Trident The Mystery Trend The Early Sons Of Champlin Blackburn & Snow For Murky Reasons Only Managed To Release A Meager Slice Of The Material They Recorded For The Organization On Poorly Distributed Singles Although They Recorded Quite A Few Numbers In The Studio. "Stranger In A Strange Land" Appeared On A Single By Verve Whose Parent Company MGM Had A Deal With Trident In Early 1967. A Second Single The Country-Rock-Flavored "Time"/"Post-War Baby " Appeared In October 1967 Although Only Promo Copies Were Pressed. An Entire Album Was Scheduled For Release In Spring 1967 But Never Came Out As The Trident/MGM Deal Foundered. Blackburn & Snow Separated From Frank Werber Around Late 1967. Shortly Afterwards The Pair's Romantic Relationship Ended And Although They Continued To Play Together Briefly They Soon Broke Up As A Professional Act As Well. Sherry Snow Sang With Dan Hicks & His Hot Licks Before Leaving The Music Business And Jeff Blackburn Remained Active As A Musician In Santa Cruz Joining Moby Grape From October 1973 To May 1975 And Playing Live With Neil Young In The Ducks In 1977. read less