The Lower East Side Band

The Lower East Side Band is an American rock band from Manhattan, New York.

History

In the late 1960s the band recorded on Elektra Records (beginning in 1968) and was a popular local Manhattan band. Formed originally as a backup band for David Peel, the band originally consisted of Harold C. Black and Billy Joe White. They performed with David Peel on the "Have a Marijuana" album conceptualized by Danny Fields as a collection of drinking songs for pot smokers. Larry Adam was a member of the band through the first album.^{[citation needed]} By the end of 1971 all the original band members had been replaced.

In 1970 The Lower East Side Band produced another album called "The American Revolution," put out on Elektra Records (now part of Warner Music Group as Sire Records) with David Peel as vocalist and lyricist. Harold Black and Billy Joe White left the group in 1971 after the release and tour for the album to form the glitter rock band Teenage Lust and were replaced by Tommy Doyle, Frank Lanci and Billy Minelli. In the mid-seventies they were produced by John Lennon on Apple Records. Lennon produced David Peel's "The Pope Smokes Dope," which was banned in all countries except the USA and Canada.

In the late 1970s, the Lower East Side Band included as regular band members Eddie and his brother Moses from the Bronx, as well as Andi Anderson aka Andrew Stergiou. They regularly appeared with David Peel on Michael Luckman's "Underground Tonight Show," an early cable TV program broadcast on Sterling Manhattan Cable TV public broadcast channels. Sterling Manhattan Cable was later to become part of HBO in the Times-Warner group.

The Lower East Side band was part of the Plastic Ono Band that appeared on the David Frost Show with John Lennon and Yoko Ono. They performed at the first Manhattan New York City Smoke-in hosted by the Yippies, as well as the first Washington DC Smoke-In, which was broadcast on both television and radio.

References

• Sterling Manhattan Cable TV Archives
• Yipster Times
• Overthrow Magazine

External links

• David Peel at the Internet Movie Database
• The "Official online shrine"
• David's homepage
• 1972 clip of the Lower East Side Band on the David Frost Show performing "New York City Hippie" with David Peel, John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Tommy and Eddie, Elephant's Memory.
• Andrew Stergiou website