Blackburn & Snow

Blackburn & Snow were a hip duet that appeared in the early mid sixties on the San Francisco music scene in the USA. The group consisted of ex Bakersfield Rebels guitarist-singer Jeff Blackburn & ex Sherry Snow & Geronimo vocalist Sherry Snow who became romantically involved in 1965, living together in Berkeley, California and performing in local clubs.They signed up in Dec 1965 with Kingston Trio producer Frank Werber’s ‘Trident’ and put out Samuel F. Omar (pseudonym David Crosby) “Stranger in a Strange Land”. Snow was considered by friends in Jefferson Airplane as the replacement for departing Signe Anderson in late 1966, however she chose to remain with Blackburn. The duo contributed to the San Francisco Sound, performing throughout 1965–67 at venues such as the ‘Fillmore Auditorium’, ‘Avalon Ballroom’ and Marty Balin’s nightclub ‘The Matrix’. Blackburn & Snow performed at the ‘KFRC Fantasy Fair’ ‘and ‘Magic Mountain Music Festival’, a seminal festival in Marin County, California at the beginning of the Summer of Love.

In 1966 and into the spring of 1967 the duet released an album of folk rock songs similar to Jefferson with unique harmonic interplay between the couple. Highlights included the sensational “Taking It Easy”, finely harmonised “Do You Realise” and soulful “Some Days I Feel Your Loving” influenced by The Everly Brothers and Beatles. Blackburn & Snow recorded a number of rock songs, backed by Candy Store Prophets initially the backing for The Monkees first album which included Larry Taylor of Canned Heat and future Ventures Gerry McGee. drummer Gary “Chicken” Hirsh, later of Country Joe & the Fish) Following a romantic breakup in 1967, Snow joined Dan Hicks & his Hot Licks as a singer. (She later emerged as Halimah Collingwood)

Blackburn joined Moby Grape in the mid-seventies; with Bob Mosley and later formed the Jeff Blackburn Band which with the addition of Neil Young and Johnny Craviotto became The Ducks, playing a series of impromptu bar gigs in Santa Cruz, California in 1977. During this time, Blackburn co-wrote “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” with Young. Blackburn continues to perform, based in Santa Cruz with Buck N the Odds. In 1999, the mid-sixties Blackburn & Snow recordings from Trident Productions were finally released as a 20-song compact disc, titled Something Good for Your Head.

Added: October 19th 2011
Reviewer: shiloh noone | See all reviews by shiloh noone
Category: Music
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Related Link: Seekers Guide To The Rhythm Of Yesteryear