About The Savage Resurrection

The Savage Resurrection were Randy Hammon (lead guitar, vocals) (whose cousin Paul Whaley was in Blue Cheer), John Palmer (lead guitar, vocals), Bill Harper (lead vocals, harp, percussions), Jeff Myer (drums), Steve Lage (bass guitar, vocals) Formed in 1967 in the East Bay town of Richmond,CA. (near Berkeley) by members of Garage Rock groups Button Willow, Whatever's Right, The Plague, The Blue Boys and others. "The Savage Resurrection" were signed to "Mercury Records" by A&R man "Abe 'Voco' Kesh", most famous for his work with fellow Bay Area-based acts "Blue Cheer" and "Harvey Mandel". "Abe 'Voco' Kesh" produced their lone, "The Savage Resurrection" album over the course of three days, capturing a group that sounded Rawer and Punkier than most Psychedelic bands, which could be an advantage or a hindrance. Some numbers on the resulting LP were humdrum Heavy Blues-Rockers; others had more unexpected chord shifts and song structures to anchor their molten-intensity lead guitar riffing, though even then they could sound derivative of more accomplished groups such as Love and the "Jimi Hendrix Experience". There were flashes of promise, especially considering their extreme youth ("Randy Hammon" was only sixteen when they recorded their album), but these were not fulfilled, as lead singer "Bill Harper" and bassist "Steve Lage" left shortly after the album came out. With replacements "The Savage Resurrection" only managed to do a little touring in the Midwest before breaking up later in 1968. At its best, it has the spacier, folkier and more melodic feel that was characteristic of much 60s Californian Psychedelic Music, as on "Someone's Changing". More dissonant and Middle Eastern influences make themselves known on "Every Little Song" and "Tahitian Melody" and the backup vocals on "Remlap's Cave Part II" indicate that they did their share of listening to "The Who's "A Quick One, While He's Away".