Biography
Randy Holden, a 1960s guitar hero whose career repeatedly placed him outside the spotlight, has nonetheless drawn a devoted though modest cult audience for his contributions to several California outfits during that decade. Surf singles issued by the Fender IV showcased his inventive use of reverb on the fretboard, after which he moved into the Sons of Adam, a Los Angeles group responsible for three solid garage-psychedelic 45s. Jeff Beck-like sustain already marked those recordings, most notably the track “Feathered Fish,” written by Arthur Lee of Love though never cut by Love itself. Following the Sons of Adam’s dissolution, drummer Michael Stuart entered Love, while Holden signed on with the Other Half, an underappreciated punk-tinged psychedelic band from San Francisco whose lone album highlighted his searing, suspended leads; the group also released several songs available only on singles.
Holden gained his widest recognition during a brief run with Blue Cheer, the San Francisco band that linked psychedelia to heavy metal. Replacing Leigh Stephens, he exited midway through sessions for the group’s third album, New! Improved!, appearing solely on side two. He next cut the extremely scarce hard-rock solo LP Population II for the tiny Hobbit label in 1970, then stepped away from the music industry. Scattered small-label reissues in the 1980s and 1990s have kept most of his catalog intermittently available.
Holden gained his widest recognition during a brief run with Blue Cheer, the San Francisco band that linked psychedelia to heavy metal. Replacing Leigh Stephens, he exited midway through sessions for the group’s third album, New! Improved!, appearing solely on side two. He next cut the extremely scarce hard-rock solo LP Population II for the tiny Hobbit label in 1970, then stepped away from the music industry. Scattered small-label reissues in the 1980s and 1990s have kept most of his catalog intermittently available.