A Look Back

by Mike Somavilla

From 1966 until 1973 Country Weather played all throughout Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. In their early days they were known as The Virtues. Original members were Dave Carter on Bass guitar and vocals and his long time friend from grade school, Steve Derr, on rhythm guitar and vocals (It was Steve who taught Dave how to play bass), with Paul White on Lead Guitar and Craig T. Nelson (not “Coach”) on drums.

Greg Douglass was one of the hottest guitarists in Contra Costa County at the time, previously with the Statics and The Vibrants. Greg replaced Paul White on lead guitar, adding his song writing and vocal skills to the band’s sound. Craig, who didn’t like to practice, was eventually replaced by Bill Baron. Bill was a powerhouse of a drummer and when he played, it sounded like there were two distinct drummers up on stage.

It was this line-up of the Virtues – Bill Baron, Dave Carter, Steve Derr and Greg Douglass that would later change their name to Country Weather, after Chet Helms suggested that they needed a better name. So after an eye-opening experience one afternoon in 1967, they came up with the name Country Weather.

Country Weather soon attracted the fascination of the San Francisco Bay area music scene as well as the attention of Bill Graham. Graham decided to book them through his Millard Agency, where upon he put them on many bills at the Fillmore, Winterland and other high profile gigs as well.

In 1969 Country Weather released a five song-one sided record as a way to get gigs. It also got them some air play and they received some press from Ralph J. Gleason. Unfortunately only fifty copies were made making it one of the most sought after relics of the San Francisco music scene. “Fly to New York” and “Carry A Spare” are just two songs from the record that received air play on the bay area’s underground radio stations.

Also in 1969 they did a session which received considerable air play on KMPX and KSAN for singer songwriter Terry Dolan with John Cipollina from the Quicksilver Messenger Service and Nicky Hopkins, veteran piano player for the Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Steve Miller Band, and countless others. The two songs, “Inlaws and Outlaws” and “Angie” can be heard on the Terry & The Pirates CD “Too Close for Comfort”.

During their hey-day Country Weather opened and headlined at various concerts with Creedence Clearwater Revival, Spirit, Joe Cocker, Santana, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Paul Butterfield, Sly and the Family Stone, Sons of Champlin, Boz Scaggs, Ten Years After, Big Brother, and the Holding Company, John Lee Hooker, Country Joe and the Fish, Dan Hicks, Steve Miller, Dino Valenti, Muddy Waters, Beggars Opera, Frumious Bandersnatch, Kaleidescope, The Sir Douglass Quintet, Flatt & Scruggs, and Jeff Beck with Nick Hopkins, Mickey Waller, Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, On one particular night while hanging out backstage at the Fillmore, Rod was moaning and groaning that somebody had drank his bottle of some special imported wine. It was Dave and Steve. Rod never found out. I guess if he buys this record he’ll know about it now.

[In 2002 Country Weather released a double Vinyl LP compilation] of their old recordings. They had a great time tripping down memory lane listening to the tapes and recalling their youth, the gigs, the chicks, and all of the other trappings that rock n roll offers a young man in his early twenties. It was during a time when they were briefly “Almost” on top of the rock world.

The band, their old manager and road manager share some of the experiences...about the recording sessions, the concerns, the scene and just being alive, playing music and being a part of San Francisco’s music history, in a time and place forever to be revered and known as “The Summer of Love”. Th[e] album is in celebration of the same energy and spirit.

[The music on the LP was] years in the making [and includes] Country Weather...cool unreleased and vintage music. [It also includes] other long forgotten studio tracks, as well as some explosive live performances. There are a lot of gems and great music on the [LP].

A Look Forward

By Spring Newton

Country Weather reformed in 2000 and in 2003 released a 13 song CD, “Country Weather - Making Music Again.” That CD includes vintage and new songs, and marked the emergence of Country Weather into the new millennium.

In 2007 Rhino Records produced a Summer of Love commemorative book and CD release, featuring representative bands from the Summer of Love music phenomenon. Country Weather is included in the book “Love is the Song We Sing” and features “Fly to New York,” a noteworthy improvisation which received a fair amount of airplay in it’s time. This album received a Grammy nomination in the historical category.

Country Weather is now proud to announce their return to the San Francisco Bay Area music scene featuring Steve Derr on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Mike McMillan on lead guitar and vocals, Roger Ford on bass guitar and vocals, and Ed E. on drums and vocals. Their new 3 song demo CD includes their original signature song “Fly to New York,” recently mentioned in Rolling Stone Magazine and touted by the Stone as a “great freakout.” It also includes new unreleased songs. The band plans to be more visible over the next few years, and take their distinctive high energy sound to new levels.

For booking information please contact Steve Derr at 209-403-1013.

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