Sir Lord Baltimore

Infobox musical artist
Name = Sir Lord Baltimore


Img_capt = From left: Louis Dambra, Gary Justin, and John Garner, circa 1971
Img_size =
Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Brooklyn, New York, USA
Genre = Hard rock
Heavy metal
Rock and roll
Years_active = 1968-1976
2006-present
Label = Mercury Records, Polygram, Red Fox, JG Records, Anthology Recordings
Associated_acts = The Koala, The Lizards
URL = [http://www.sirlordbaltimore.com/ www.sirlordbaltimore.com]
Current_members = John Garner
Louis Dambra
Past_members = Gary Justin
Joey Dambra
Tony Franklin

Sir Lord Baltimore are a pioneering American heavy metal band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 1968 by lead vocalist/drummer John Garner, guitarist Louis Dambra, and bass player Gary Justin. They are most notable for the fact that a 1971 review of their debut record, "Kingdom Come", contained the first documented use of the term "heavy metal" to refer to a style of music. [Saunders, "Kingdom Come" review, "Creem".] Additionally, Sir Lord Baltimore featured a drumming lead singer, traditionally a rarity in rock and metal music. [Sir Lord Baltimore biography, BNRMetal.com.]

In 2006, Garner and Dambra reunited as Sir Lord Baltimore and released a new album, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw". However, the band now has an overt positive moral focus not found in their earlier work. [Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".] Justin, who is no longer an active musician, did not participate. [Garner, SirLordBaltimore.com.]

History

Sir Lord Baltimore's career is divided into two distinct periods: their original formation, during which time they put out two studio albums and started a third; and lead vocalist/drummer John Garner and guitarist Louis Dambra's reunion in 2006.

Original career

Having first met in high school, Garner, Dambra, and bassist Gary Justin started rehearsing together in 1968. [Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".
* Sir Lord Baltimore biography, Metal-Archives.com.] At the time of their formation, Dambra (as Louis Caine) was also playing for a group called The Koala, who released an eponymous LP in 1969. ["The Koala" biography, Bad Cat Records.] Additionally, Justin has cited Cream's Jack Bruce as an influence on his early career choice. [Saunders, "Kingdom Come" review, "Creem".]

After a relatively short time, the new band auditioned for Mike Appel, who was then working as a talent scout and would later launch and manage the career of Bruce Springsteen. Appel agreed to mentor them, reportedly gave them the name Sir Lord Baltimore, and would later co-write and co-produce their debut album. [Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".
* Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.]

That album, "Kingdom Come", was recorded at Vantone Studios in West Orange, New Jersey, with Jim Cretecos serving as Appel's co-producer. Additional mixing was done at New York, New York's Jimi Hendrix Electric Lady Studios by legendary engineer Eddie Kramer, better known for his work with Jimi Hendrix, KISS, and many others. According to Appel, British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd had the opportunity to hear Sir Lord Baltimore during these sessions, and were reportedly impressed. [Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.]

Released on Mercury Records in 1970, "Kingdom Come" featured very fast-paced rock 'n' roll with high levels of distortion in the guitar and, in some cases, the bass, and extensive multi-tracking to further enhance the guitar sound. [Cope, "Kingdom Come" review, HeadHeritage.co.uk.] Though this style of rock 'n' roll would become popular in later years, it was considerably different from the majority of that era's contemporary rock music. [Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.]

On February 19-20, 1971, Sir Lord Baltimore played consecutive nights at New York's Fillmore East as the opening act on a bill that included The J. Geils Band and Black Sabbath, as part of the latter's "Paranoid" tour. (Sir Lord Baltimore played additional dates on this tour, as well.) ["Paranoid Tour" tour dates, Black-Sabbath.com.] A photo of the band used in the Fillmore East's programs was later used as the cover of their 2006 reunion album, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw". [Garner, SirLordBaltimore.com.]

In May 1971, Mike Saunders (of later Angry Samoans fame) wrote a favorable review of "Kingdom Come" for "Creem magazine". Of historical note was Saunders' assertion that "...Sir Lord Baltimore seems to have down pat most all the best heavy metal tricks in the book." To date, this appears to have been the first printed use of the term "heavy metal" to reference a musical genre. [Saunders, "Kingdom Come" review, "Creem".]

Issued the same year, and again on Mercury, "Sir Lord Baltimore" marked a change in direction, with "Kingdom Come"'s frenetic pace giving way to slower-tempoed songs more reminiscent of music produced by the band's hard rock peers. Sir Lord Baltimore expanded to a four-piece for this album, with Louis Dambra's brother, Joey Dambra, joining as a second guitarist. [Cope, "Kingdom Come" review, HeadHeritage.co.uk.] Furthermore, "Sir Lord Baltimore" contains the band's only officially released live recording, "Where Are We Going." [Sir Lord Baltimore, "Sir Lord Baltimore", 1971 Mercury Records.]

Their career started to fade after "Sir Lord Baltimore"'s release, and Mercury dropped them shortly thereafter. The band publicly blamed drugs on its initial downfall, with low record sales and non-payment of royalties also being cited. [Rivadavia, Sir Lord Baltimore biography, AnthologyRecordings.com.
* Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".] However, the band did start work in the mid-1970s for an unreleased third album originally scheduled for 1976, and music written for that project was eventually used on "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw". [Garner, SirLordBaltimore.com.]

In 1994, "Kingdom Come" and "Sir Lord Baltimore" were reissued on a single compact disc, "Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore", from PolyGram, and again in 2003 via Red Fox. However, the track listing on the combined CD differs from the original recordings. "Kingdom Come" was issued again separately in 2007, this time on Anthology Recordings, and uses the same track listing as the 1994 and 2003 editions.

Reunion

Some 30 years after the band's break-up, Garner and Dambra reunited to record and self-distribute a new Sir Lord Baltimore album, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw", on JG Records in July 2006. Garner produced the album. The majority of the album's bass guitar lines were performed by Tony Franklin, with guitarist Anthony Guido and bass player Sam Powell being credited as guest musicians. Though the album's music was originally written for the aborted 1976 release, the lyrics were modified to present a subtle Christian viewpoint. [Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".
* Rockwell, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw" review, AngelicWarlord.com.]

As of February 2007, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw" has not been released in brick-and-mortar or online stores. The band is seeking traditional distribution. In addition to his modern day work with Sir Lord Baltimore, Dambra is an active pastor who ministers to homeless families in Los Angeles, California. [Freeman, "Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master", "The Village Voice".] To date, he and Garner have not announced any future projects.

Since 2007, John Garner & Swedish guitar player Janne Stark of [Overdrive (band) and { [Locomotive Breath Band] } recorded a modern version of "Woman Tamer" from SLB's 2nd Album since neither Louis or Joey are active members at this point.In March 2008, it was announced that John Garner & Janne Stark with a selected bass player will make an appearance at Sweden Rock Festival in June 2008, But mitigating circumstances, plus lack of backing prevented it.

Personnel

Original Members

*John Garner - lead vocals/drums
*Louis Dambra - guitar
*Gary Justin - bass ("Kingdom Come", "Sir Lord Baltimore")

Additional Musicians

*Joey Dambra - guitar ("Sir Lord Baltimore")
*Tony Franklin - bass ("Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw")
*Anthony Guido - guitar (guest musician, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw")
*Sam Powell - bass (guest musician, "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw")

Discography

*"Kingdom Come" (1970 Mercury Records, 2007 Anthology Recordings)
*"Sir Lord Baltimore" (1971 Mercury Records)
*"Kingdom Come/Sir Lord Baltimore" (1994 PolyGram, 2003 Red Fox)
*"Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw" (2006 JG Records)

Notes

21: Trivia- Sir Lord Baltimore was the name of the Indian tracker hired to find Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid in the 1969 movie.

References

*cite web
last = Cope
first = Julian
title = "Kingdom Come" review
publisher = HeadHeritage.co.uk
month = August | year = 2002
url = http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/591
accessdate = 2007-02-15

* cite news
last = Freeman
first = Phil
title = Godsmacked: Seventies heavy-metal pioneers Sir Lord Baltimore have returned with a new sound and a new master
work = The Village Voice
date = February 9, 2007
url = http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0707,freeman,75769,22.html
accessdate = 2007-02-15

*cite web
last = Garner
first = John
title = Welcome page
publisher = SirLordBaltimore.com
url = http://www.sirlordbaltimore.com
accessdate = 2007-02-15

*cite web
title = "The Koala" biography
publisher = Bad Cat Records
url = http://www.geocities.com/badcatrecords/KOALA.htm
accessdate = 2007-03-17

*cite web
title = "Paranoid Tour" tour dates
publisher = Black-Sabbath.com
url = http://www.black-sabbath.com/tourdates/1971.html
accessdate = 2007-04-07

col-2

*cite web
last = Rivadavia
first = Eduardo
title = Sir Lord Baltimore biography
publisher = AnthologyRecordings.com
url = http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/release.asp?album=s5nghSgoYXM#bio
accessdate = 2007-02-14

*cite web
last = Rockwell
first = Andrew
title = "Sir Lord Baltimore III Raw" review
publisher = AngelicWarlord.com
url = http://www.angelicwarlord.com/reviews/s/sirlordbaltimore06.html
accessdate = 2007-02-14

* cite news
last = Saunders
first = Mike
title = "Kingdom Come" review
work = Creem
date = May 1971
url = http://www.creemmagazine.com/_site/BeatGoesOn/SirLordBaltimore/KingdomCome001.html
accessdate = 2007-02-14

*cite web
title = Sir Lord Baltimore biography
publisher = BNRMetal.com
url = http://www.bnrmetal.com/groups/slb.htm
accessdate = 2007-02-15

*cite web
title = Sir Lord Baltimore biography
publisher = Metal-Archives.com
url = http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=56275
accessdate = 2007-02-14col-end

External links

* [http://www.sirlordbaltimore.com Official Sir Lord Baltimore website]
* [http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/591 Sir Lord Baltimore on Head Heritage]
* [http://www.bnrmetal.com/groups/slb.htm Sir Lord Baltimore on BNR Metal Pages]
* [http://www.anthologyrecordings.com/release.asp?album=s5nghSgoYXM Sir Lord Baltimore - Kingdom Come on AnthologyRecordings.com]