Compton & Batteau

In the late 1960s guitarist John Parker Compton and violinist Robin Batteau shared Cambridge coffeehouse stages before assembling the group Appaloosa. Bassist David Reiser and cellist Eugene Rosov rounded out the quartet, which secured a Columbia Records contract in 1969 and placed its self-titled LP in stores before year’s end. Rooted in Cambridge folk traditions, the founding pair followed that release with the 1970 album Compton & Batteau in California and then parted company. Compton issued the solo record To Luna the next year and reappeared in the 1990s with further material, while Batteau first collaborated in a duo with his brother David Batteau, later joined the late-1970s band Pierce Arrow, and eventually worked extensively as a studio musician.