SWEETWATER

Best known as the very first band to play at Woodstock following Richie Havens and Swami Satchidananda, the Los Angeles based SWEETWATER was unusual for a so-called psychedelic folk rock band in that it featured eight members and featured instrumentation such as cello and a conga / bongo section before Santana popularized Latin percussion in rock music. Sounding most like Jefferson Airplane, SWEETWATER followed in that band's footsteps by integrating jazz and psychedelic rock into its folky style. The band existed from 1968 - 1971 and released three albums.

The members were multi-ethnic and despite never really finding a major breakthrough with its three albums before lead singer Nansi Nevins was killed in a car accident even though they toured with virtually every major band of the era including Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Cream, the Grateful Dead, Big Brother & The Holding Co. w/ Janis Joplin, C S N & Y, the Who, Frank Zappa, Jefferson Airplane, Chicago, Chuck Berry, Spirit, the Allman Bros., E.L.P., Joe Cocker, War, Linda Rondstadt, Santana, Joan Baez, Beach Boys, Steve Miller, Chambers Bros., and many others.

Add to that SWEETWATER had a major television presence and was featured on Red Skelton, Steve Allen, Playboy After Dark, Hollywood Palace, American Bandstand amongst others and of course got international exposure throughout the decades as a performer at Woodstock. This self-titled debut was released in 1968 and featured their best known track, the opening "Motherless Child" which is a traditional black spiritual song that dates back to the end of the slavery era and was the track they opened with at Woodstock.

SWEETWATER's debut is a warm collection of psychedelic pop songs that features a more sophisticated style than is usual for much of the so-called sunshine pop of the 1960s. The cello and and flute give the album a chamber folk flavor while the dead ringer for Grace Slick vocals make the album sound like Jefferson Airplane had they gone a completely different musical direction. The band was also unusual in that it completely avoided electric guitar with most of the electric string parts being played on the bass however acoustic guitars were deemed ok.

In many ways SWEETWATER sounded very much like a 60s psychedelic folk rock band but the band was just a bit more complex than the average pop band with compositions that took on darker tones and off-kilter breaks that deviated from the main melodic flow. Tracks such as "My Crystal Spider" showcase how the band would interrupt the pop melody flow in order to add little breaks of progressive deviations. Tracks like "Rondeau" showcased the band's connection to medieval folk styles which were brought to life by the warm flute lines. The tracks are well crafted with catchy pop hooks but offer a much larger band experience than the average guitar / bass / drum / keyboard limitations of most 60s folk rock bands.

SWEETWATER's debut is not to be missed by lovers of warm melodic chamber pop / folk from the 1960s. It contains all the best aspects of the 1960s without falling into the trap of sounding cliche and despite Nansi Nevins' similarity in style to Grace Slick, the music is quite different than Jefferson Airplane and i actually prefer the sound of SWEETWATER to the majority of Airplane's output. This album is chock full of beautiful melodies and the excess instrumentation gives it an orchestral feel that really allows a tapestry of woven melodic counterpoints to come to life. The tracks are diverse with a huge range of influences with more upbeat rockers as well as tender ballads.

I'm really shocked that SWEETWATER wasn't met with a larger success story given they had all the right opportunities and exposure. I guess the world wasn't quite ready for this brash and over-the-top sound and the band never really got rediscovered. Although Nansi Nevins died from a drunk driver crashing into her on December 1969, the band had enough material with her to release two more albums but called it quits in 1971. The surviving members reunited for Woodstock '94 but the band still remains a relative obscurity considering the significant exposure they received which is too bad because i really love this debut.