Bermuda Triangle Band

Infobox musical artist
Name = Bermuda Triangle Band


Img_capt = Roger and Wendy of Bermuda Triangle at the New York Folk Festival, Central Park bandshell 1986
Img_size =
Landscape = yes
Background = group_or_band
Birth_name =
Alias = Roger Becket, Wendy Becket
Born =
Died =
Origin = Greenwich Village, New York, USA
Instrument =
Genre = Psychedelic rock, psych folk, Pop rock, Folk, Folk rock, Pop music, Country pop
Occupation =
Years_active = 1967 - present
Label = MGM Heritage Polydor Winter Solstice
Associated_acts =
URL = http://www.bermudatriangleband.net
Current_members = Roger Penney Wendy Penney
Notable_instruments =

Bermuda Triangle Band's wild psychedelic or delicately nuanced electric autoharp and transcendental vocals [http://www.lysergia.com/AcidArchives/lamaArchiveB.htm December 22 2006] grew out of the late '60s Folk rock scene.With an independent attitude,eccentric style and highly unusual instrument lineup,the group was unprecedented [http://www.lysergia.com December22 2006] .Psychedelic Rock ["New York Times" review by Stephen Holden August 8 1983] Autoharp ["Entertainment New York" magazine, Robbie Woliver's review refers to "rock autoharp" ] was unknown ["East Carolina State University Press" review January 14 1971] , and there were very very few women playing bass guitar ["Variety" October 1969] . The current members are Roger Penney and Wendy Penney.

History

Their Early Style

The band, originally called Roger and Wendy, was formed in the late '60s in Greenwich Village, New York City, in pass-the-basket-for-tips coffeehouses and folk clubs. Performing at first without microphones,since basket houses had no cabaret licenses so amplified vocals were illegal, they developed an energized psychedelic folk [http://psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/reissue.html February 9 2007] style with just an electrified autoharp and fast pulse bass guitar. Their music quickly evolved from traditional ballads to Folk Rock to Psych folk, Acid Freak Folk ["shindig! magazine" reviews October 2006] and Rock.

Roger and Wendy took the stage names Roger Becket and Wendy Becket when they had become involved with the Theatre Company of Boston and then in several off-Broadway plays. They kept these AKA's through much of their musical career, then returned to their original surname of Penney. This accounts for some of the confusion regarding credit for albums. Wendy is a lifetime member of the Art Students League of New York.

Euphoria

For a one year interlude in 1969, Roger and Wendy fronted a band with Tom Pacheco and Sharon Alexander called EUPHORIA. Roger and Wendy were the lead vocalists. The group signed with MGM/Heritage Records, Jerry Ross producing, and released an album titled "EUPHORIA" ["Cashbox" magazine September 27 1969] ["Go" magazine review by Chris Hodenfield October 1969] ["Record World" magazine Pick Hit September 27 1969] ["Variety" Record Reviews Fall 1969] (American Sunshine Pop a la The Mamas and the Papas) and a single "You Must Forget". Then they disbanded.

This album has been reissued on March 2007 by Beatball Records.

Bermuda Triangle

The college concert circuit courted Roger and Wendy and booked several long national tours [ [13] National Association of Campus Activities, www.naca.org, tour schedules and artist performance reports 1975-1992] , an arrangement that continued through more than 3000 concerts. Using Woodstock, New York, as a temporary songwriting base in 1972, the band generated the folk album "Roger and Wendy" [Acid Archives, Roger and Wendy] . A female drummer/fiddler, then joined the group known only as Sam. In 1975 the band changed its name to Bermuda Triangle and released its Psych folk album "Bermuda Triangle" in 1977 ["shindig! magazine" review by Paul Martin October 2006] [ [16] forcedexposure.com December 12 2006] [http://psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/reissue September 2 2006] . Roger had been writing the bulk of the groups songs. CD gleaned from their entire career. Most of the songs have never been released before, and some have never been performed.

Autoharp

Roger Penney, the originator of Rock Autoharp, redesigned the autoharp's chord bar structure and gave the design to The Oscar Schmidt Company [East Carolina State University Press, Sandy Overcarsh review January 14 1971] , the largest American crafter of autoharps. Now all major autoharp manufacturers worldwide have switched to making autoharps using Roger's design. Using contact mics,and then magnetic pickups to create a true 'electric autoharp',and inventing a (braille) type system of round and rectangular chord bar buttons which allowed the player to know by touch, exactly what chord they were playing, without visual observance. This made it possible to play complex chord patterns on a chromatically tuned autoharp in multiple keys. His sound is shaped with Wah, Phasing, Flanging, Fuzz, Delay, Octave and Modulation [ [http://www.lysergia.com L Y S E R G I A ] ] . He then developed a method of triggering live percussion simultaneously with the autoharp utilizing technology incorporated into the harp's structure [Eureka College Press] .

He was also instrumental in the design and development of the first electromechanical harpsichord,which came to be known as the 'Baldwin Combo Harpsichord', see electric piano. Originally conceived and built at Cannon Guild, in the mid 60s, a premier harpsichord maker in Cambridge Mass. It had contact pickups, an aluminum frame, a spruce soundboard, and a clear plasic lid. Modifications were made later by the Baldwin Piano Co. who bought the design and prototypes that were made at Canon Guild.

Discography

*"Euphoria" (Euphoria) MGM/Heritage Records (1969)
*"Euphoria" (Euphoria) Polydor Records single #59368
*"Roger and Wendy" (Roger and Wendy) Horny Records (1972)
*"Bermuda Triangle" (Bermuda Triangle) LP on Winter Solstice Records (1977)
*"Bermuda's II" (Bermuda Triangle) Tribecket Records (1984)
*"Bermuda Triangle" (Bermuda Triangle) Reissued on Radioactive Records UK (2006) ["shindig! magazine" October 2006]
*"One Day At A Time" (R & W Penney) Winter Solstice Records (2006)
*"Bermuda Triangle" (Bermuda Triangle) CD on Winter Solstice Records (2007)
*"Euphoria" (Euphoria) Reissued on Heritage/Beatball Records (2007) [ [http://www.forcedexposure.com/artists/Euphoria.html Browse by Artist: EUPHORIA ] ]
*"The Missing Tapes" (Bermuda Triangle) Winter Solstice Records (2007)
*"Bermuda Triangle" (Bermuda Triangle) Reissued 12 inch vinyl LP on Anazitisi Records (2008)

References

External links

* [http://www.bermudatriangleband.net bermudatriangleband.net]
* [http://www.rogerwendy.com Roger and Wendy Website ]