Elephant's Memory
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Elephant's Memory was a New York band, most notable for backing John Lennon and Yoko Ono from late-1971 to early 1973. In these shows, the band was referred to as the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band.
Known around the Greenwich Village area as a politically-active street band, they backed Lennon and Ono on a pair of albums, and a handful of TV and live appearances, including two performances at the famous One To One Concert in 1972, a benefit show for the Willowbrook School for handicapped children.[1]
Two of their songs, "Jungle Gym at the Zoo" and "Old Man Willow", appeared earlier in the soundtrack to the film Midnight Cowboy. Elephant's Memory received a gold disc for their contribution to the soundtrack.[1]
The band also appeared in the 1983 documentary film, Hell's Angels Forever, in which they appear at the Hells Angels' Pirates Party held on the SS Bay Belle on September 5, 1973, together with the Jerry Garcia Band.
Elephant's Memory was formed between 1967 and 1968 by Stan Bronstein (sax/clarinet/vocals) and Rick Frank Jr.(drums). In 1968 they briefly added Carly Simon as a vocalist. By 1969 the line-up had expanded to include John Ward (bass), Chester Ayers (guitar), Myron Yules (bass/trombone), R. Sussmann (keyboards), Michal Shapiro (vocals), Guy Peritore (guitar/vocals), and David Cohen (guitar/keyboards/vocals). Further additions in 1970 saw Chris Robison (guitar) and Davey 'Crabsticks' Trotter (mellotron) join the band.
In 1969, the band had a minor hit single with "Mongoose" on Metromedia Records. Between 1970 and 1973 the line-up remained more or less constant around the following members:
- Stan Bronstein - sax/clarinet/flute/vocals
- Rick Frank Jr. - drums/percussion
- Wayne 'Tex' Gabriel - guitar
- Harry 'Crow' Eisenberg - guitar
- Adam Ippolito - keyboards/piano/vocals
- Arthur Kaplan - bass guitar
- Gary Van Scyoc - bass guitar
(Van Scyoc played in most of the albums where the band participated with Lennon and Ono.)
Throughout all 1972 they became the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band and performed with John Lennon and Yoko Ono on various TV shows, albums and concerts. From March 1 to March 20, 1972, they played on the Lennon/Ono album Sometime In New York City. The lineup for that album was: Wayne "Tex" Gabriel on guitar, Gary Van Scyoc on bass, Richard Frank Jr. on drums, Adam Ippolito on keyboards and Stan Bronstein on sax. The album was released in June 1972 in the U.S. and in September 1972 in the U.K.
In April and May 1972, this same line-up recorded their Elephant's Memory album, produced by Lennon and released on the Beatles' Apple Records label. It also contains various Lennon contributions on guitar and vocals. This album has never been released on CD.
On August 30, 1972, again this same line-up, with the addition of John Ward on bass and Jim Keltner on drums. played with Lennon and Ono at the famous One To One Concert, organized by Geraldo Rivera to benefit the Willowbrook State School for handicapped children. The concert was filmed and recorded and released in February 1986 as the John Lennon Live In New York City album and on VHS.
One week later, on September 6, 1972 they played live again with Lennon and Ono at the Jerry Lewis Telethon on TV, playing "Imagine", "Now Or Never" and "Give Peace A Chance".
In October - November 1972, again with the same line-up, they recorded Ono's two-disk album Approximately Infinite Universe, released in January 1973.
They added, at various times, Daria Price on castanets, Robert O'Leary on bass, and John La Bosca on piano. However, the line-up that recorded Angels Forever in 1974, was Stan Bronstein and Richard Frank, plus Gary Van Scyoc on bass, Chris Robison and Jon Sachs.
In 2010, Van Scyoc and Ippolito appeared in LENNONYC a documentary about John Lennon for the PBS American Masters series.
[edit] Discography
- Island In The Sky (1968, album by Long Island sextet The Tuneful Trolley)
- Several members of Elephant's Memory performed the brass heard on the LP.
- Midnight Cowboy soundtrack (1969), songs "Jungle Gym Zoo" and "Old Man Willow"
- Elephant's Memory (1969)
- Take it to the Streets (1970)
- Some Time In New York City (1972), with John Lennon & Yoko Ono
- Elephant's Memory (1972), produced by John Lennon & Yoko Ono
- Approximately Infinite Universe (1973), with Yoko Ono
- Bio (1973), with Chuck Berry
- Angels Forever (1974)
- Our Island Music (1976), credited to Stan Bronstein/Elephant's Memory Band
- Live in New York City (1986), live John Lennon album, recorded in 1972
