Holy Moses - Holy Moses!! '1971

Tracks list

Holy Moses was an American rock band based in Woodstock, New York. They released
one album on RCA Victor Records in 1971.

The roots of the band lie in the country rock band Kangaroo, which formed in
1968 around folk singer Barbara Keith, multi-instrumentalist John Hall,
guitarist Teddy Speleos, and drummer/vocalist N. D. Smart (previously of the
Remains). Speleos (born Theodore Edward Speleos, 1951) was a virtuoso guitarist
who had previously replaced Roy Buchanan, and played with Hall, in rock and roll
band the British Walkers, and whose style was sometimes compared with Jimi
Hendrix. In his autobiography Born To Run, Bruce Springsteen wrote that he and
Steve Van Zant used to see Speleos playing in bands in Greenwich Village, and
used to sit there slack-jawed at his sound, technique and nonchalance... . The
group, Kangaroo, came to be based in Washington, D.C., and developed an
enthusiastic live following. They released a self-titled album on MGM Records.
Reviewer Richie Unterberger said of the album that there are few other albums of
the late 60s... on which so much talent is evident, but so little coheres into
satisfying results. The band split up in early 1969. Hall moved on to form the
band Orleans before becoming a politician; Smart later formed Mountain with
Leslie West; and Keith began a solo career.

Speleos then formed a new band, Holy Moses, in Woodstock, New York, with David
Vittek (rhythm guitar), Marty David (bass, tenor sax), and Chris Parker (drums).
They were joined by singer, songwriter and pianist Billy Batson, a California
native who had recorded for Decca Records in 1966, performed in clubs in
California and Greenwich Village, and had several of his songs recorded by duo
Hedge and Donna.[8] Batsons songs gave a new focus to the band, and they
performed regularly in the Catskills. They rejected a management offer by Albert
Grossman, but were seen by Michael Jeffery, who was looking for a new band to
manage after the death of his client, Jimi Hendrix. Jeffery was impressed by
Speleos guitar style, and gave him one of Hendrixs guitars. The band won a
contract with RCA Victor, and in 1970 recorded their album, Holy Moses!!, at the
Electric Lady Studios in New York City. All the songs were written by Batson,
and the album was produced by Mike Esposito of the Blues Magoos and Kim King of
Lothar and the Hand People.

Released in 1971, together with a single, A Cowboys Dream, the album failed to
chart, despite having all the ingredients of a bonafide classic. Esposito later
described the band as unusually unstable. Jeffery was killed in an airplane
crash in 1973; some of the bands equipment including Speleos guitars were
stolen; and Speleos, who reportedly had problems of mental health, moved back to
Virginia to start a family. The band then split up.

Parker joined Paul Butterfields Better Days; Speleos reportedly later spent some
time in a monastery; Marty David became a session musician. Batson was later a
member of The Hypstrz, with Ernest Batson, Randy Weiss, and John Haga. They
released an album, Hypstrization!, on Voxx Records in 1980.

David Vittek died in 2012. Billy Batson died from lung cancer on September 5,
2017.

Tracklist:
1 01. Holy Moses - The Sad Café (05:04)
1 02. Holy Moses - Dig a Deeper Hole (03:23)
1 03. Holy Moses - Rock City Road (03:29)
1 04. Holy Moses - Roll River Roll (04:09)
1 05. Holy Moses - Agadaga Dooley (03:09)
1 06. Holy Moses - No Turnin Back (06:11)
1 07. Holy Moses - A Cowboys Dream (04:26)
1 08. Holy Moses - Bazaraza Bound (08:45)

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