ELECTRIC RANGE founders John Alden, Billy Darnell, Patrick Aicholtz and Peter Bradstreet had converged on Southern California in late 1969 and began writing and recording with Buffalo Springfield's Dewey Martin for his "Medicine Ball" album.
By the spring of 1971 John, Pete, and Billy, along with Lynn Rowe, Larry Galt, Patrick Aicholtz and Sandy Leigh were signed to Atlantic Records' Clean Records label as the band STARBUCK.
With Don Everly producing the album, and the band playing Los Angeles venues like the Hollywood Bowl, things were looking good. As things sometimes go, the scene turned sour and the album was never finished.
The group was forced to disband and they scattered about the country wondering "what if...?".
John and Peter made there way back to their original stomping grounds of Dayton, Ohio and played in the esoteric outfit DYS (Dayton-Yellow Springs Band) for several years.
Patrick moved out of the area but continued songwriting on his own. Billy, however, became a much sought-after studio musician and contributor to music greats like Dr. John, Garth Hudson, Roger McGuinn, Rick Roberts, Randy Meisner, Nicky Hopkins and Gene Clark. Billy also did stints as guitarist for the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield Again, and Hoyt Axton.
Fast forward to 1995. With prodding and encouragement from long time fan Jim Foreman, the band reunited for a performance in Dayton and things clicked big time.
Though Lynn was not available, the rest of the original Starbuck got together and revived the early material and presented new songs to each other that revealed they were still on the same page musically. Smokehouse Records was just gearing up and looking for their first client when Foreman brought them to the labels attention.
The result of that introduction lead to the signing of what came to be Electric Range. Original Starbuck members Alden, Bradstreet, Darnell, and Aicholtz were joined by Darnell collaborator and bassist/vocalist Robin Lamble.
Robin, a native of England, had done stints with Al Stewart on four albums and was completely captivated with the quality of songs that Peter and John had to offer for the project.
Smokehouse then set upon the task of finding the best person for the job of overseeing the vocally intensive project and with a connection here and there was able to present founding Eagles member Randy Meisner with the material.
Because of Randy's familiarity with the style, and in particular with the process of recording the three and four part vocal arrangements, he was thought to be a perfect fit.
Randy was brought on board to produce the self-titled debut and he also played bass on one track and contributed backing vocals to three others. Chris Hillman contributed mandolin parts to two songs and Hoyt Axton came to town to add a booming bass vocal to the closing track "Far Away".Though it had been twenty-five years since the magic had originally blossomed, it was apparent that the unique collaborative effort initiated long ago was still alive and well.The CD earned reviews that branded their music with remarks like "...big bandage for the soul", "...captivating", and "...an exquisitely professional affair". The project was warmly received at Americana and innovative Country radio with the rockin' track "All That Remains of Love" leading the way.The 'Range has cooked up a 12 course meal of nourishing notes to satisfy our hunger for pure American music.
Additional personnel includes: Chris Hillman (mandolin); Rick Fannin (drums).
Recorded at Refraze Recording Studio, Dayton, Ohio.
Electric Range includes: John Alden (vocals, acoustic guitar); Patrick Alcholtz (vocals, drums); Peter Bradstreet (keyboards).
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