Sweetwater

An eight-piece rock ensemble distinguished by its uncommon roster, wide-ranging instrumentation, and broad stylistic reach, Sweetwater never secured the superior material or opportunities required for broad recognition. Nansi Nevins handled lead vocals, supported not only by standard guitar, bass, drums, and keyboards but also by flute from Albert Moore, conga from Elpidio Cobian, and cello from August Burns. Their debut release on Reprise emerged as a quintessential late-’60s artifact, its sound careening across multiple directions under a major label’s backing. The group fused Californian psychedelia with jazzy keyboard textures and classical influences, most evident in the flute and cello, yet never settled into a consistent identity or produced standout material, even if the results remained serviceable. Reprise apparently extended this difficult-to-position act a chance amid an era when psychedelic rock had reached the charts, an outcome that would have seemed improbable just a few years earlier.

The musicians coalesced from a circle of friends who performed informal sets at Los Angeles coffeehouses during the mid-’60s. Harvey Gerst, co-writer with Roger McGuinn on the Byrds’ “It Won’t Be Wrong,” participated informally at times, occasionally serving as road manager and contributing guitar. Dave Hassinger, who had engineered and produced sessions for the Rolling Stones, Electric Prunes, and Grateful Dead, oversaw their first album. Throughout the late ’60s the band supported major headliners and appeared at numerous festivals without advancing to top billing, becoming the opening act on the Woodstock stage.

In December 1969 twenty-year-old Nansi Nevins sustained serious injuries in a car crash that caused extensive brain trauma and vocal-cord damage, leaving her comatose for weeks and requiring extended physical therapy. Although she contributed a few tracks to the second Reprise album, she could not resume performing with the group, which ceased touring and forfeited its accumulated momentum. Richard Perry attempted production duties, yet the sessions yielded limited success, and the record was finished with other members assuming lead vocals. Their third and final album, the more folk-leaning Melon, appeared in 1971; the band dissolved that summer.

Nevins, keyboardist Alex Del Zoppo, and bassist Fred Herrera revived Sweetwater as a trio in 1997. Two years later, marking the thirtieth anniversary of Woodstock, VH1 aired a documentary featuring Felicity’s Amy Jo Johnson in the role of Nansi Nevins; the broadcast renewed public attention, prompting Rhino to issue the limited-edition compilation Cycles surveying the group’s Reprise recordings.