“Hailing from Los Gatos, Weird Herald has a tight link to Moby Grape, possibly the unluckiest and most remarkable group in America in 1967. Like the Grape, Weird Herald is a tale of talent and tragedy. And it all started in the South Bay folk scene in the early sixties.” – Cam Cobb, Ugly Things #67
“Weird Herald may have been the great lost band of the South Bay” - LostLiveDead Blog
One of the major discoveries when talking about West Coast psychedelia / folk-rock.
In 1968, Weird Herald released a now sought-after promo only 45 with the songs "Saratoga James" / "Just Yesterday". That 45 was part of a full album that was never released.
Music ranges from haunting, beautiful folk-rock with spacey acoustic guitar playing and delicate vocal harmonies ("Untitled", "David Of Bijou" - probably the first ever song dedicated to Skip Spence - cool laid-back country-folk ("Reapin' Seasons”, sounding not unlike current bands like the Milk Carton Kids) to energetic hard-rockers à la early Moby Grape or Jefferson Airplane with stunning electric leads. Not forgetting "Where I'm Bound" which has a cool ‘Notorious Byrd Brothers’ feel or "Burgundy and Yellow", kinda Weird Herald's "Bass Strings" (Country Joe & The Fish).
Hailing from Los Gatos in California, Weird Herald featured two accomplished guitar players who are local legends in the San Jose / Santa Cruz area, Billy Dean Andrus and Paul Ziegler.
Their roots can be traced to the early San Jose folk / coffeehouse scene. Jorma Kaukonen (Jefferson Airplane / Hot Tuna) was a close friend and used to jam with them. Billy Dean Andrus was Skip Spence's best friend since high school and they both used to perform as a folk duo in the early days. A fantastic rhythm section, Cecil Bollinger on bass and Pat McIntire on drums rounded the band.
Sadly, in 1970 Billy Dean Andrus died of a drug overdose in the Santa Cruz Mountains. He was immortalized on the songs "Ode for Billy Dean" written by Jorma Kaukonen for Hot Tuna and "Chicago" by the Doobie Brothers. Paul Ziegler ended up joining up Hot Tuna in the early 70s. He passed away in 2000. Problems with the management / producers led to the planned album being shelved and, according to legend, the master tapes destroyed. Luckily, reel-to-reel copies have remained with the Andrus family for half over a century, unheard until now.
RIYL: MOBY GRAPE, JEFFERSON AIRPLANE, THE BYRDS, MILK CARTON KIDS, BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD, MAITREYA KALI, EVERLY BROTHERS, PSYCHEDELIC ROCK, FOLK-ROCK, LONER FOLK...
