About Me
Some Bio Notes by Chas Kimbrell:
It was 1968, I was living in Fayetteville, NC and playing with a band called ORNGE (not Orange); which consisted of Rick Vannoy on Guitar, Mike Archleta on Bass and me on Drums.
The band played mostly Hendrix, Cream, etc. and a few originals. We decided to go all original, added Vince Fersak on guitar and began rehearsing with the hopes of getting signed to a major (or any) label. When things failed to take off, Vince came to me and Mike with a new band offer. A band called The Nyte [sic], based at East Carolina University, needed a guitarist and drummer. Vince thought he could sell them on me and Mike as a Drummer/Bassist package.
The remaining members of The Nyte, Sandy Pantaleo, Vocals and Ben Ninnman, Hammond B3 and Bass Keyboards were students at ECU.
Mike, Vince and myself travelled to Jacksonville, NC and sat in at one of their gigs. Sandy went for the Drummer/Bass Package.
Oh, the name. . .
Sandy (who was the leader of The Nyte) decided the name should be changed. (after all, the band was now more Ornge than Nyte)
He was walking down an aisle in a super market and saw a bottle of "Liquid Smoke" hickory seasoning and . . .
LIQUID SMOKE was born!
Sandy was originally from Babylon, Long Island, NY. When classes ended at ECU in the Spring he suggested that we move to NY - better gigs, more money, more chances to actually "Make It". Mike, Vince and myself were from North Carolina. Ben was from Virginia so, the bulk of the band was actually from the South.
We soon were playing most of the better (and worse) clubs on Long Island and the surrounding area. Dean's College Inn in Deer Park was sort of our home base since it was owned by our managers.
In 1969 we were signed to Avco Embassy Records. Our self titled album debuted in January of 1970; produced by Vinny Testa (Frijid Pink), engineered by John Bradley and recorded at Ultra-Sonic Recording Studios, Hempstead, NY. Our single, a cover of "I (Who Have Nothing)" made it to #83 in Billboard and was a #1 hit in some areas. We opened for various Headliners and made appearances on the "Upbeat Show" and "Scene 70" which were both sort of knock offs of American Bandstand. The band continued on for about a year but, disbanded after poor promotion and management failed to get us to the next level.
The album still surfaces on Ebay and elsewhere on the net as a collectible and some classic rock stations still have some of our tracks on their playlist.
Avco Embassy Records is of course now defunct. I have tried to find out who bought their catalog but, to no avail. I am hoping this page will help to strengthen the interest in Liquid Smoke and possibly lead to a re-release of the album on CD.
HERE ARE SOME LINKS:
Stoner Rock Chick
A Really cool review!
DESTINY ONE
A Record Shop and more in England that sells old Vinyl - Including OURS!
TIME TRAVELLER
A personal review on a record collector's blog
Here is another link that has lots of
information and pictures about the Long Island Rock scene including LIQUID SMOKE!
BEACHES, BARS & B-3s
AND. . . a new very cool link!
The Rockit Scientist
AND a second link from the same site!
The Rockit Scientist2
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