The Serpent Power was formed by Meltzer and his wife Tina (who sang both lead and harmony vocals), and also included Denny Ellis and David Stenson on lead guitar and bass, respectively, both of whom had gotten their start with San Francisco folksters the Grass Roots. The band became a full rock outfit with the inclusion of John Payne on organ and Clark Coolidge on drums. The album, also entitled The Serpent Power, received a somewhat limited pressing and, despite featuring some excellent examples of folk-rock, the band never got that big, known mostly within the San Francisco area. The album's last track was a raga-rock epic which included electric banjo player JP Pickens, who stayed on as a permanent member as the band entered its second incarnation.
Ellis, Stenson, and Payne left shortly after The Serpent Power was recorded, replaced by Bob Cuff (who'd come over from folk-pop band the Mystery Trend), on lead guitar and Jim Mocoso on bass. Although they continued reaching in ever-more exploratory directions, the band didn't record another album, and disbanded in 1968. David and Tina Meltzer went on to record another album, Poet's Song, under their own names. ~ Alex Stimmel (Apothecary Hymns), All Music Guide
A limited archival ed lp, Ourobouros, featuring the late 60s freak out incarnation of Serpent Power is out on locust . W/ liners by David Meltzer.
"The Serpent Power were a short-lived and under documented group of Bay Area freakers & tweakers founded by poet David Meltzer & his wife, Tina. Under the original incarnation, Serpent Power would record only one album for Vanguard who signed them on the recommendation of Ed Denson (Country Joe & the Fish manager/Takoma Records co-founder). The Vanguard LP is a doozy of sunshine pop psych & raga rock. Needless to say, the 'song' structures would be reserved for the beautiful family tones of David & Tina Meltzer's Poet Song recordings for Vanguard & a dormant album for Capitol called Green Morning. Phase two of Serpent Power, on the other hand, would regroup as an amorphous musical blob that seemingly let it all hang out & that's just what you get on Ourobouros. This is a deliciously hairy, off the cuff live document of the band's second incarnation recorded at KPFA in 1969. Bob Cuff (of the great art rock band The Mystery Trend), Jim Moscoso, Jean-Paul Pickens, fellow poet/seer Clark Coolidge & David Meltzer were joined by Daniel Moore, leader of The Floating Lotus Opera Company and a mystery friend named Christian for a session of spontaneous, combustive aggro hippie jams." --Dawson Prater
"Ultra rare freakout psychedelia from Serpent Power -- slow building instrumental raga rock from the end of the 60s" - Dusty Groove America
"It's splendid stuff, each of the two pieces evolving organically, with the musicians dropping in and out and sharing the spotlight around. So what begins as a banjo-led bluegrass groove mutates thereafter into Eastern flavored exotica, squawking [ captain beefheart 's] Magic Band style nuttiness, or west coast psychedelic jamming." - Mike Stax , Ugly Things Magazine