We Five

We Five was a 1960s folk rock musical group based in San Francisco, California. Their best-known hit was their 1965 remake of Ian and Sylvia's "You Were on My Mind", which reached #1 on the Cashbox chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The original group split before their second album was released in 1967, but a re-formed band produced three more albums between 1968 and 1977. The original group is probably best remembered for the vocal qualities of its lead singer Beverly Bivens.Fact|date=October 2008

Biography

Formation and style of the group

Michael Stewart formed We Five after graduating from Pomona Catholic High School and attending Mt. San Antonio College. He was the brother of John Stewart (musician) of the Kingston Trio. Their parents were the John S. Stewarts of 547 West 12th Street, Claremont, California. ["Homecoming Due For One of Kingston Trio", March 18, 1965, pg. SG2.]

The quintet formed in 1964 when Michael was a student at the University of San Francisco. Ths group played adult rock 'n roll, pop jazz, Broadway show tunes, and Disney tunes. Earlier he had formed a trio in high school whose members played for their own enjoyment. Stewart did all the arrangements, which ranged from "These Are My Favorite Things", in a style which reflected Bach,to "Very Merrily Un-birthday". He put in several additional hours after the five band members worked together for five or six hours each day. ["Claremont Brothers Make Music", May 9, 1965, pg. SG_A1.]

In February 1966 We Five was nominated for a Grammy for Best Performance By A Vocal Group for "You Were On My Mind". They lost to a band called The Beatles. ["Roger Miller's "Road" Tops Nominations for Grammys", February 14, 1966, pg. C19.]

The link with A&M

The Herb Alpert owned label, A&M Records, responded smartly to the new popularity of rockier music. In addition to the middle-of-the road material turned out by his Tijuana Brass, the Baja Marimba Band, and Brasil '66, Alpert's label released albums by We Five, Boyce and Hart, the Garden Club, Chris Montez, and the The Merry-Go-Round. ["Rock Writers Show Singing Talent", Los Angeles Times, August 13, 1967, pg. C29.]

We Five was among the artists included in a preliminary injunction issued by the Los Angeles Superior Court in April 1968. The edict prohibited pirating of A&M artists, including the Tijuana Brass and The Sandpipers. The action was directed against Superba Tapes, Inc., of Lancaster, California. The company had copied tapes of the recordings and sold them to the public without paying royalties to the artists. ["Court Bars Pirating Of Musical Records", Los Angeles Times, April 13, 1968, pg. B12.]

Personnel

The ensemble played acoustic guitar and electric guitar and sang harmonies. The original line-up, which grew out of a band called the Ridgerunners, included:

*Jerry Burgan (Tenor, 6-String Acoustical Guitar)
*Michael Stewart (Baritone-Bass, 5-String Banjo, 6-String Acoustic Guitar, 9-String Amplified Guitar)
*Beverly Bivens (Low Tenor to High Soprano, Rhythm Guitar)
*Peter Fullerton (Tenor, Acoustic & Fender Bass)
*Bob Jones (Baritone-Tenor, 6-String Electric Jazz Guitar, 12-String Electric Guitar).

In 1967, after the band made its second album, Beverly Bivens left and was replaced by Debbie Graf Burgan (who is Jerry Burgan's wife.) The We Five made three more albums between 1968 and 1977 with Debbie Burgan as the lead singer. Peter Fullerton left the music business in 1970 to minister to the homeless and needy: he is the founder of the California-based organization "Truck of Love." [http://www.truckoflove.org/Pete's_Corner.htm Pete's Corner ] ]

The Burgans have kept various versions of the band together for the past 40 years. Jones is a member of the current version of the band, which is now officially known as "We Five Folk Rock Revival." Later editions included Frank Denson, who went on to write music for television shows, including "Magnum, P.I.", "Tales of the Gold Monkey", and "Blossom", and Mick Gillespie who played drums and did backing vocals in the album 'Catch The Wind'.

Michael Stewart, who was also a record producer (most notably for Billy Joel) and a pioneering developer of MIDI music software, died on November 13, 2002, at age 57. [http://www.officialwefive.com/bioscombined.html We Five Folk Rock Revival, Bios ] ] Although his family initially reported to the press his death was the result of "a long illness", [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20021127/ai_n12655005] [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117876193.html?categoryid=25&cs=1] Stewart in fact committed suicide -- his son Jamie of the band Xiu Xiu would go on to occasionally discuss the event in both songs and interviews. [http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Michael-Stewart-(musician)] [http://www.zoilus.com/documents/news/2004/000059.php] [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1285/is_/ai_n19311218] [http://www.lala.com/artist/Xiu_Xiu/bio]

Trivia

We Five were the fifth group to record songs live in San Francisco, and were also the first commercial artist to record music for Coca-Cola. They were Grammy-nominated as Best New Artist of 1965, but were beaten by The Beatles.

Michael Stewart's son, Jamie Stewart, is the vocalist for experimental indie band Xiu Xiu.

Michael Stewart's brother was singer/songwriter John Stewart, best known for being a member of the Kingston Trio during the 1960s and for his Top Five 1979 hit song "Gold."

We Five's only other chart hit aside from "You Were On My Mind" was "Let's Get Together," which reached #31 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was later a Top Five hit and a million-seller for The Youngbloods as "Get Together."

Discography

*"You Were On My Mind" (1965) A&M LP-111/SP-4111
*"Make Someone Happy" (1967) A&M LP-138/SP-4138
*"The Return of We Five" (1969) A&M SP-4168
*"Catch the Wind" (1970) Vault 136

References

External links

* [http://www.wefive.net Official Site]
* [http://www.onamrecords.com/gallery/view/We%20Five We Five on A&M Records]