The Charlatans
Formed
September 1964, San Francisco, CA, United States
Disbanded
1969
Members
George Hunter (vocals, 1964-68), Richard Olsen (bass, vocals, 1964-69), Darell De Vore (keyboards, vocals, 1968-69), Michael "Mike" Wilhelm (lead guitar, vocals, 1964-69), Terry Wilson (drums, 1967-69), Mike Ferguson (piano, keyboards, 1964-67), Sam Linde (drums, 1964), Dan Hicks (drums, guitar, 1965-68), Lynne Hughes (vocals, 1965), Patrick Bogerty (keyboards, 1967-68)
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Discography
24Album
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Biography
George Hunter is the founding member of the band, together with Mike Wilhelm, Richard Olsen, Mike Ferguson and Sam Linde. After a few months Sam Linde was replaced by Dan Hicks. With this line-up, on June 1, 1965, they were employed for a two month stint as the house band at the newly-opened Red Dog Saloon in Virginia City, Nevada - near the North California border - where they begin to take LSD (so they are sometimes called the first acid rock band). Their dress in concert was inspired by the Gold Rush.
At the end of the summer of 1965 they returned to San Francisco with Lynne Hughes, a waitress at the Red Dog Saloon. In San Francisco they get an audition for Autumn Records, unfortunately sold to Warner Brothers the following year. So they sign with Kama Sutra Records in early 1966 instead, but the label refused to publish their album because of the lyrical content of the song "Codine", written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. This album will be published in later years by Groucho Records in 1977 and by Sundazed Records in 1996.
In 1967 Mike Ferguson left the Charlatans. Dan Hicks first moves from drums to rhythm guitar and then leaves the band for his group Dan Hicks And His Hot Licks (the group that had already been playing as an opening act for The Charlatans). Also George Hunter soon leaves the band because he had opened his own graphic arts agency named Globe Propaganda.
Remaining members Richard Olsen and Mike Wilhelm, together with a new line-up the band release an eponymous 1969 LP The Charlatans, but the sound is not the same. By 1970, The Charlatans had broken up.
George Hunter, painter and graphic artist, who had drawn the psychedelic poster for their first concert in 1965 in the Red Dog Saloon, was also known for designing Quicksilver Messenger Service's famous album cover Happy Trails and the cover of It's a Beautiful Day.
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