Earth Opera • biografía & discografía

Biografía:

Earth Opera were an American psychedelic rock group from the late 1960s featuring Peter Rowan and David Grisman.

Both Rowan and Grisman were virtuoso folk and bluegrass performers in Boston clubs, who became caught up in the changes in the music scene in the mid 1960s. They formed Earth Opera in 1967, and were joined by John Nagy on bass, Paul Dillon on drums, and Bill Stevenson on keyboards and vibraphone.

The group was signed by Jac Holzman to Elektra Records. Their self-titled debut album, produced by Grisman's ex-bandmate Peter Siegel, and including veteran drummer (and Mothers of Invention alumnus) Billy Mundi, was a mixture of folk and psychedelic influences. Although it never charted, Elektra was willing to record a second LP, "The Great American Eagle Tragedy". By this time, Stevenson had left but the album featured an array of eminent guests including John Cale (viola) and Bill Keith (pedal steel).

“The Great American Eagle Tragedy” managed to reach the lower end of the national charts, the cover featuring a parody of the US presidential seal with a superimposed death skull and what looks like blood stains. However, the band’s relative lack of success caused Earth Opera to break up in 1969. Rowan, Grisman and Nagy all continued their careers in the music business.

In 2002, both of Earth Opera's LPs were reissued on CD.

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Earth Opera emerged from the Boston folk scene (as did Appaloosa and James Taylor) and recorded two folk rock albums in the late-60’s. The main figures of Peter Rowen and Dave Grisman played in various eastern US folk music groups as far back as the early 60’s, and their early works can be found on the String Band Project released in 69 by folk-specialist label Elektra. Earth opera’s signing to the label occurred at a moment when they were having success with rock acts, such as The Doors, Love and even Tim Buckley, so Earth Opera got their shot as well. Often portrayed as acid folk rock, they were also pinned by the reductive Bosstown (Boston) Sound syndrome, even if Earth opera didn’t have much in common, certainly not in sound.

They recorded their two albums over 18 months, both produced by in-house producer Peter Siegel, with a rather stable line-up, although their second album had many guest musicians, including Velvet Underground’s John Cale. Their music is a gentle folk rock with some unusual instrumentation (vibraphone), but also had a dark side, which provided some quite interesting songs, usually their longer tracks. Their second album The Great American Eagle Tragedy is maybe a bit weaker, but holds a real class title track, that should appeal to most progheads.

Not commercially successful, the group folded, and the two leaders headed for California and joined Bluegrass group Muleskinner (offshoot of The Byrds) and Old and In The Way (with Jerry Garcia, this will lead in Grisman playing on the Dead’s American Beauty album). Later Rowan will form Sea Train (later Seatrain), which is of some interest for progheads. Then he joined his brothers in The Rowen Brothers, also a bluegrass group, but past 72, the Earth Opera connections are of no interest to progheads.

Discografía de estudio:

• Earth Opera - Earth Opera (1968)
  
• Earth Opera - The Great American Eagle Tragedy (1969)