From organfreak@donobi.net Sun Aug 15 09:32:19 2004
Subject:Re: Clip of "97 Tears"- Bonow, XK-3

--- In CloneWheel@yahoogroups.com, tonysounds
wrote:
> Sorry to be ignorant, but exactly who is Bonow?

Hi Tony,
At the risk of boring everyone else who has seen me flog this guy's
music mercilessly on various other groups over the past few years,
I'll try to give you the shortish version:

A Seattle-area organ player/singer/songwriter and a close friend of
mine, Dan Bonow has been gigging here (and now in Hawaii) since 1965
(he's 55 y/o). He developed a taste for black music and funk when he
went to high school in Nigeria. He was an associate of Hendrix--
when Hendrix came back to Seattle for a show and heard Dan's band
(with Hammond BC) at their house, he was inspired to add organ
to "Electric Ladyland."

The band in those days, Juggernaut, was justifiably famous for its
strange amalgamation of soul, funk, rock, jazz, and psychedelia. The
band barely made it into the musical history books around here, but
is still legendary to old musicians who remember. Dan's organ-
playing style was very unusual, using the right thumb to beat out
eighth notes independently of everything else. He is also a killer
left-hand bass player-- I'm talking about timing, not fancy chops.

Dan blew-off several chances for fame in those days, being paranoid
of the music business in general and "big-shot producers"
specifically. Now he's sorry!

He's an acquired taste-- many love his music but even more hate it.
It's different from anything else. There's a real taste of Old
Seattle in it, as well as heavy soul plus alot of B.S. (I'm working
on toning that down). Currently I'm trying to help him get over by
producing stuff with him in Sonar. The music isn't as strange and
quirky as it used to be but it's still great. Out of hundreds of
good songs he has done over the years, there are some MP3s posted
here:

(Please don't attempt to browse to a home page at organfreak.com,
it's only a place-holder.)

Every tune is totally different, so listen to several if you can.

-OF