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In 1971 Gold was one of
the hottest bands in San Francisco without an LP.
Bill Graham was booking them to open for 10 years
After, Big Brother & the Holding Company, Hot
Tuna and more. Eventually he called their
management into his office and let them know that
he needed bands that had an LP out with airplay. In
2002, Gold's Album "Mission Rock" recorded in '71
was released. After 32 years, finally the LP Graham
had wanted to hear!
Gold, a real San Francisco
band had Mission District origins in 1967. To gain
attention, the band often did benefit gigs for good
causes, something they learned from watching the
career of Country Joe & The Fish. They played
twice for prisoners at the San Francisco County
Jail, and also at San Quentin State Prison. In 1971
they played at an anti-Vietnam War Moratorium rally
at Golden Gate State Park which drew over 150,000,
sharing the bill with Big Brother & The Holding
Company. Also, in 1970 they played at a notorious
Hells Angels party along with Big Brother, Full
Tilt Boogie and Janice Joplin. Not only were they
receiving good support from Bill Graham, but also
received favorable reviews from the San Francisco
Chronicle & Examiner.
The only thing holding
them back during those days was not having an LP,
but they did manage to get some airplay right along
with Santana and The Grateful Dead from an audio
cassette they had sent in to local FM radio
stations.
Country Joe McDonald took
a great interest in the Band and worked with them
on a number of projects. he even helped them
release a 45...the classic "Summertime" b/w "No
Parking". The single went pretty much unnoticed,
however they did receive some airplay on top 40
stations in California and Utah.
Guitarist Ed Scott founded
what was to become Gold in 1967. Known at the time
as The Lost Cause, featuring Larry Walton on lead
guitar, they went through several names including
Golden Gate, and then finally Gold (as in Acapulco
Gold). As the years progressed, new members came
and went. The band finally broke up in September,
1973 due to frustration over lack of finding a good
label and the usual ego tripping issues that cause
most bands to fall... For a garage band they
actually went very far and played on some big
stages with some mighty huge acts...
Future plans are another
worldinsound CD release from a live recording made
in 1970 in San Francisco featuring Richard Coco on
vocals... Gold is currently rehearsing again with
some original members - Ed Scott - lead Guitar, Joe
Lopes - drums/vocals , Mike Stone -aka Mike
McEnerny -bass and Ed's son Ed Scott Jr. on rhytym
guitar... They plan to play a biker event in
Northern California in June 2003...
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Personnel:
Ed Scott - Guitar
Joe Bajza - Guitar
Chico Moncada - Bass
Roy Garcia - Drums
Joe Lopes - Drums
Louis Gorseau - Drums
Mike Perrotti - Drums
Sebastian Nicholson - Congas
Robin Sinclair -Vocals
Bob Golden -Vocals
Richard Coco -Vocals
Mitch - Flute and Guitar
Armand - Organ
Roger Kahn - Organ
Ron Cabral - Percussion
Mike McEnerny - Bass
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Influences:
Jefferson
Airplane, Big Brother, Santana, Allman
Brothers, Grand Funk Railroad
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Setlist
Sample:
No Parking, Summer Dresses, Piece of Your
Action, Heavy, PSB, All Right, High on
Love, Conquistadors, Frisco Kid, 40-days
Blues, Filet of Soul, Season of the
Witch.
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Equipment:
Peavy, Marshall, Gibson, Fender
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Rehearsal
Space:
Garage in
Daly City - 3 years, beauty shop in SF 1
year, basement next to funeral home in SF
1 year.
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Band
Vehicles:
Blue
truck and old cars.
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Fashion
Statement:
The usual
late 60's early 70's hippie
garb.
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Best
Gig:
Winterland
and Fillmore-West - Bill Graham gave us
some big breaks by booking us both at
Fillmore and Winterland several
times
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Gig
from
Hell!:
San
Francisco County Jail 1970 - just plain
scary
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Last
Gig:
Hell's
Angels party - SF 1973
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Comments:
Appeared as GOLD
12/02 on a TV show called the Bruce Latimer Show -
Pacifica, CA. Recorded an album in 1971 featuring
two songs written by Country Joe McDonald, "Summer
Dresses" and "Piece of Your Action." but it was
never released. Finally released on a CD titled
"Mission Rock" in Oct 2002 by German label
worldinsound see www.worldinsound.com
for
details.
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