Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
Group Members: Tony Franklin
All Music Guide:
Brooklyn, NY's Sir Lord Baltimore were arguably America's first bona fide heavy metal band, and the funny thing is, they didn't even know it, since the style had yet to establish itself when the band first burst onto the scene. And because SLB's precocious, raw talent was offset by their immaturity and utter lack of business acumen, their budding career was summarily derailed after just two generally underrated albums. Thus, they were cursed to endure decades of obscurity until their music was rediscovered, vindicated, and often covered or flat-out copied by many stoner rock bands of the 1990s and beyond.
If anything makes sense in the ill-fated Sir Lord Baltimore story, it's the fact that the commercial success attained during their existence was as modest as the band's inner-city roots. Vocalist/drummer John Garner, guitarist Louis Dambra, and bassist Gary Justin were recently graduated from high school and had only been rehearsing for a few months when they auditioned for talent scout Mike Appel, who would later help launch the career of one Bruce Springsteen. Impressed by the band's undeniable power and chemistry, and assured by Dambra (who had just recorded an album with another group named the Koala) that the ferocious riffs he was playing were in fact not copped from Jimmy Page, Appel decided to take the inexperienced young trio under his wing. So, after fine-tuning and rearranging their raw materials into a strong batch of songs, Sir Lord Baltimore began recording their debut album, Kingdom Come, in West Orange, NJ, where they reportedly impressed a visiting Pink Floyd and attracted the attention of high-powered artist manager Dee Anthony, who wasted little time pushing out Appel and taking over the group's day-to-day operation.
Anthony then commissioned Jimi Hendrix engineer Eddie Kramer to mix the finished Kingdom Come at the legendary guitarist's own Electric Ladyland studios in Manhattan, before securing a deal with Mercury Records for its release in mid-1970. Unfortunately, mainstream critics and consumers of the time didn't seem to know what to make of Sir Lord Baltimore's thundering hard rock (or, for that matter, those of any other similar band, like the Stooges or the MC5, unless they originated in the U.K.), which presciently yielded the first documented use of the term "heavy metal" to describe this kind of music in a contemporary review by Creem magazine.
Nevertheless, Anthony's contacts in high places were strong enough to secure SLB opening slots on tours with Black Sabbath (including two nights at the Fillmore East) and Humble Pie, but perhaps a tad prematurely, as it was on-stage that Sir Lord Baltimore's lack of experience and underdeveloped showmanship were revealed for all to see, sending them back to Brooklyn with tails between legs and egos in check to ponder their next move. This would eventually entail the addition of Louis' brother Joey Dambra on second guitar, leading up to the recording of their second, eponymous album, in 1971, where a concerted effort was made to both rein in the band's wild energy and broaden its sound into more progressive realms, with some success but nowhere near as much spontaneous combustion captured within the grooves. And when these "improvements" also fell short of commercial expectations, Sir Lord Baltimore were unceremoniously dropped by Mercury and left to their own devices shortly thereafter by their fickle Svengali. The bandmembers still began working on new music with hopes of finding another interested label, but finally gave up the fight in 1976 after a new contract for a rumored third album failed to materialize, resigning themselves to a life outside rock & roll as their records collected dust in cutout bins.
But the eventual rise of hard rock and heavy metal and, in particular, its mid-'90s offshoot, stoner rock, finally sparked a retroactive reevaluation of Sir Lord Baltimore's work, and vindicated the now middle-aged fans and music collectors who had always championed their cause. It also jolted John Garner and Louis Dambra (now a pastor ministering to homeless families in Los Angeles) out of their musical retirement in 2006, with the goal of recording the material intended for that never-made third album. Bassist Gary Justin hadn't picked up his instrument in years and declined to take part, but a few session players, including journeyman Tony Franklin, were drafted to help finish Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw, which was made available for sale through Sir Lord Baltimore's official website, all of 30 years after their breakup. Garner has since fielded several offers to perform select reunion shows in the U.S. and abroad, but has yet to come to terms that would bring Sir Lord Baltimore back to the live stage.
Wikipedia:
Sir Lord Baltimore is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 1968 by lead vocalist/drummer John Garner, guitarist Louis Dambra, and bass player Gary Justin. They are notable for the fact that a 1971 review of their debut record, Kingdom Come, contained the first documented use of the term "heavy metal" to refer to a style of music. Additionally, Sir Lord Baltimore featured a drumming lead singer, traditionally a rarity in rock and metal music. The group have been called "the godfathers of stoner rock."
In 2006, Garner and Dambra reunited as Sir Lord Baltimore and released a new album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw. However, the band now has an overt positive moral focus not found in their earlier work. Justin, who is no longer an active musician, did not participate.
Biography
Sir Lord Baltimore's career is divided into two distinct periods: their original formation, during which time they put out two studio albums and started a third; and lead vocalist/drummer John Garner and guitarist Louis Dambra's reunion in 2006.
Original career
Kingdom Come (1970)Having first met in high school, Garner (the band creator), Dambra, and Justin started rehearsing together in 1968. At the time of their formation, Dambra (as Louis Caine) was also playing for a group called The Koala, who released an eponymous LP in 1969. Additionally, Justin has cited Cream's Jack Bruce as an influence on his early career choice.
After a relatively short time, the new band auditioned for Mike Appel, who was then working as a talent scout and would later launch and manage the career of Bruce Springsteen. Appel agreed to mentor them, reportedly gave them the name Sir Lord Baltimore, and would later co-write the lyrics also co-arranged and co-produce their debut album.
That album, Kingdom Come, was recorded at Vantone Studios and engineered by Nick Masse from the legendary "Four Seasons" West Orange, New Jersey, with Jim Cretecos serving as Appel's co-producer. Additional tracks, mixing, & overdubbing were done at New York, New York's Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studios with legendary engineer Eddie Kramer, better known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, KISS, and many others. According to Appel, British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd had the opportunity to hear Sir Lord Baltimore during these sessions, and were reportedly impressed.
Sir Lord Baltimore (1971)Released on Mercury Records in 1970, Kingdom Come featured very fast-paced rock 'n' roll with high levels of distortion in the guitar and, in some cases, the bass, and extensive multi-tracking to further enhance the guitar sound. Though this style of rock 'n' roll would become popular in later years, it was considerably different from the majority of that era's contemporary rock music.
On February 19–20, 1971, Sir Lord Baltimore played consecutive nights at New York's Fillmore East as the opening act on a bill that included The J. Geils Band and Black Sabbath, as part of the latter's Paranoid tour. (Sir Lord Baltimore played additional dates on this tour, as well.) A photo of the band used in the Fillmore East's programs was later used as the cover of their 2006 reunion album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw.
In May 1971, Mike Saunders (of later Angry Samoans fame) wrote a favorable review of Kingdom Come for Creem magazine. Of historical note was Saunders' assertion that "...Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book." To date, this appears to have been the first printed use of the term "heavy metal" to reference a musical genre.
Issued the same year, and again on Mercury, Sir Lord Baltimore marked a change in direction, with Kingdom Come's frenetic pace giving way to slower-tempoed songs more reminiscent of music produced by the band's hard rock peers. Sir Lord Baltimore expanded to a four-piece for this album, with Louis Dambra's brother, Joey Dambra, joining as a second guitarist. Sir Lord Baltimore contains the supposed live recording, "Where Are We Going" which was actually recorded at Mercury Studios. The audience was dubbed in since the producer thought it was a good idea to include a "live" track.
Their career started to fade after Sir Lord Baltimore's release, and Mercury dropped them shortly thereafter. The band publicly blamed drugs on its initial downfall, with low record sales and non-payment of royalties also being cited. However, the band did start work in the mid-1970s for an unreleased third album originally scheduled for 1976, and music written for that project was eventually used on Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw.
In 1994, Kingdom Come and Sir Lord Baltimore were reissued on a single compact disc, Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore, from PolyGram, However, the track listing on the combined CD differs from the original recordings. Kingdom Come was issued again separately as downloads in 2007, this time on Anthology Recordings,
Reunion
Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw (2006)Some 30 years after the band's break-up, Garner and Dambra reunited to record and self-distribute a new Sir Lord Baltimore album, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw, on JG Records in July 2006. Garner produced the album. The majority of the album's bass guitar lines were performed by Tony Franklin, with guitarist Anthony Guido and bass player Sam Powell being credited as guest musicians. Though the album's music was originally written for the aborted 1976 release, the lyrics were modified to present a subtle Christian viewpoint.
As of February 2007, Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw is lacking a distributor and has not been released for sale. In addition to his modern day work with Sir Lord Baltimore, Dambra is an active pastor who ministers to homeless families in Los Angeles, California. To date, he and Garner have not announced any future projects.
Since 2007, John Garner & Swedish guitar player Janne Stark of Overdrive and Locomotive Breath Band recorded a modern version of "Woman Tamer" from SLB's 2nd Album since neither Louis or Joey are active members at this point. In March 2008, it was announced that John Garner & Janne Stark, with a selected bass player, would make an appearance at Rock Festival in Sweden in June 2008, but lack of pay and other mitigating circumstances prevented it.
