Biography
In 1964 the Denver canyon rock outfit the Boenzee Cryque was assembled by bassist and vocalist Sam Bush, guitarist and vocalist Dan Nash, guitarists Jim Jenson and Terry Jones, saxophonist and vocalist Joe Neddo, organist and harpsichordist Bill DeLugt, and drummer Tad Collier. Military service commitments prompted extensive personnel shifts in 1966, leaving the unit composed of Bush, Nash, Jones, Neddo, guitarist Malcolm Mitchell, drummer George Grantham, and steel guitarist Rusty Young, who was said to be the first steel player to cut tracks in a rock setting. The band’s early country-rock approach built a devoted regional following, prompting the Boenzee Cryque to record its initial single, “The Sky Gone Gray,” for the local Chicory label in 1967; the release topped radio surveys throughout the Rockies. Uni subsequently licensed the track for national distribution and released the follow-up, “Watch the Time.” The group also supplied its original composition “Ashbury Wednesday” to the soundtrack of the low-budget exploitation film Psych-Out, yet Young had already moved to Los Angeles before the picture opened, where he united with Buffalo Springfield veterans Richie Furay and Jim Messina to launch Poco; once Young enlisted Grantham for the new ensemble, the Boenzee Cryque disbanded in mid-1968. Bush later reappeared with the New Grass Revival and maintained a solo career.