Simon Stokes

Raised by his grandparents in Reading, MA, Simon Stokes struck his classmates as a solitary child. Sleepwalking began for him by the age of ten. His grandfather regularly escorted the boy to performances by the Harry D. Stokes Orchestra, providing his first real contact with live music. During adolescence Stokes absorbed the blues through late-night radio broadcasts by local DJ Sid Symphony and by frequenting all-night shows where Big Mama Thornton, Hank Ballard, and numerous other artists left lasting impressions. After capturing first prize in a hometown songwriting competition, he moved to Los Angeles while still in his early twenties.

Beginning in 1965 he cut a series of 45s credited to the Flower Children and Heathen Angels. Simultaneously he joined the writing staff at Elektra Records. He assembled the Nighthawks, and both that group and MC5 were added to the Elektra roster on the same day.

Stokes issued his debut album, Incredible Simon Stokes, on Spindizzy Records in 1973; the record delivered psychedelic blues in the spirit of Captain Beefhart. Later that year Spindizzy released Simon Stokes & the Black Whip Thrill Band, whose jacket—depicting S&M imagery and scenes of women being whipped—became the first album cover banned in the United States. The resulting furor cultivated a devoted audience for Stokes, particularly among motorcycle clubs. Buzzard of Love appeared in 1977. Thereafter he withdrew from public view, issuing no new recordings for nearly twenty years.

He resurfaced in 1996 with Right to Fly, a collaboration with ’60s counter-culture figure Timothy Leary. In 2002 Stokes returned with the country-rock album Honky, which featured players from the Bellrays alongside Wayne Kramer and drew comparisons to outlaw stylists Waylon Jennings and David Allan Coe.