Hampton Grease Band

The Hampton Grease Band was an American rock band, beginning as a blues-rock group in the late 1960s in Atlanta, Georgia. They performed with several major bands in this period, including Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers. The band gained a reputation for wacky stage antics, and eventually garnered enough attention to sign to Columbia Records. They recorded a double album, Music to Eat, which is apocryphally said to have been the second-lowest selling album in Columbia's history, second only to a Maharishi Mahesh yoga instructional record. This record compares with the likes of Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention, and Pere Ubu.

The band then signed to Frank Zappa's Bizarre/Straight label, but broke up in 1973. Several of the members went on to more renowned music careers, including Glenn Phillips' solo work and Bruce Hampton's work with the Aquarium Rescue Unit. Sam Whiteside was also the road manager for a short time and designed the cover art and most of the artwork on the inside of their album Music to Eat. Music to Eat gained a significant cult following, and was re-released on CD in 1996 with several minutes of additional material that had been edited off the vinyl release.

Lead guitarist Harold Kelling died in May, 2005.

The Hampton Grease Band held their first reunion concert on June 2, 2006, at the Variety Playhouse in Little 5 Points, a commercial area in Atlanta, Georgia. They played the Music to Eat album but also played some covers in their two encores, including "Rock Around the Clock".

Band members

• Jerry Fields - percussion, vocals
• Bruce Hampton - vocals, trumpet
• Mike Holbrook - bass
• Harold Kelling - guitar, vocals
• Glenn Phillips - guitar, saxophone

References

• CMT Band Biography
• Scaruffi History of Rock
• Messy Optics Performance Photos from 1960s and 70's
• Ground and Sky Review of "Music To Eat"
• All Music Review
• Creative Loafing on the Reunion Show
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