Biography
Emerging as lesser-known participants in the East Coast garage-psych explosion of the late 1960s, the New York-based Druids of Stonehenge began life simply as the Druids. The teenage quintet, whose members averaged just 17 years old, came together in 1965. That November a lineup featuring vocalist Budge, guitarists Carl Hauser and Billy Tracy, bassist Tim Workman, and drummer Steve Tindall tracked four songs at Manhattan’s Nola Studios—“Who Do You Love,” “Baby Please Don’t Go,” “Pretty Thing,” and “I Put a Spell on You.” Additional dates over the following year captured equally incendiary readings of Bo Diddley’s “I (Who Have Nothing)” and “Bald Headed Woman.” Those raw early takes later surfaced on a self-titled Sundazed mini-album whose ferocious R&B energy clearly echoed the Rolling Stones and the Pretty Things.
By 1968 the group had adopted its full psychedelic moniker, relocated to the West Coast, and signed with Uni Records. There they recorded the single “A Garden Where Nothing Grows” and the album Creation. The LP showcased further dramatic reinterpretations, among them Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Love’s “Signed D.C.,” and another scorching version of “I Put a Spell on You.” Sessions were split between TTG Studios in Los Angeles and a return visit to Nola in New York. Long prized chiefly for the two tracks—“Six Feet Down” and “Pale Dream”—that appeared on the Baubles, Vol. 1 compilation, Creation itself was eventually reissued by Sundazed.
Around the album’s release the band performed “Paint It Black” on television’s Joe Franklin Show; the lineup now included guitarist Elliott Randall, late of Seatrain and Randall’s Island, who had replaced Tracy after the move to California. No additional records followed, and the Druids of Stonehenge disbanded in 1969. Sporadic partial reunions have occurred in more recent times, including a warmly received New York appearance in late April 2008.
By 1968 the group had adopted its full psychedelic moniker, relocated to the West Coast, and signed with Uni Records. There they recorded the single “A Garden Where Nothing Grows” and the album Creation. The LP showcased further dramatic reinterpretations, among them Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue,” Love’s “Signed D.C.,” and another scorching version of “I Put a Spell on You.” Sessions were split between TTG Studios in Los Angeles and a return visit to Nola in New York. Long prized chiefly for the two tracks—“Six Feet Down” and “Pale Dream”—that appeared on the Baubles, Vol. 1 compilation, Creation itself was eventually reissued by Sundazed.
Around the album’s release the band performed “Paint It Black” on television’s Joe Franklin Show; the lineup now included guitarist Elliott Randall, late of Seatrain and Randall’s Island, who had replaced Tracy after the move to California. No additional records followed, and the Druids of Stonehenge disbanded in 1969. Sporadic partial reunions have occurred in more recent times, including a warmly received New York appearance in late April 2008.
Albums