ZEPHYR

ZEPHYR – a jam band, a rock band, a jazz band, a fusion band, an acid blues band – funky, heavy, experimental, ambient, blues, Latin, reggae, folk, gospel, country AND Western – a band of ‘many gifts’ was formed after a stunning jam session with Tommy Bolin sitting in with Candy and David’s band, BROWN SUGAR in early 1969 in Boulder, Colorado. The founding members were Candy Givens (vocals, harp, piano) from Evergreen and Golden, Colorado, David Givens (bass, vocals) from Detroit, Michigan, Tommy Bolin (guitar, vocals) from Sioux City, Iowa, John Faris (keyboards, woodwinds, vocals) from Cincinnati, Ohio, & Robbie Chamberlin (drums and percussion) from Denver Colorado. They all moved in to a small house at 427 Canyon thanks to the generosity of Frank “Number 9” Anton who also helped with the lyric writing although he was not properly recognized. Every day, they worked on creating a repertoire designed to facilitate their vision of a band that crossed any and all boundaries.  They started with a strong belief in each other’s ability to “make it” and they played with abandon.  Within a few weeks, they had created most of the material on their first album.  Fey had them go into Summit Studios with Denver recording engineer, Preston Smith and producer Wyndham Hannaway, to record a three-song demo which included “Cross the River”, “Hard Charging Woman”, and their version of “St. James Infirmary Blues”.  The results garnered them their first airplay on KMYR in Denver where “Cross the River” was the most requested song ever in the late night “Underground” Show according to DJ, Jim Mason.Immediately following their first gig ever at The Sink in Boulder (managed by a very young Chuck Morris), ZEPHYR was approached by legendary Denver concert promoter, Barry Fey, with a offer to manage the group’s future business.  Fey’s promotion company, Feyline, was just starting to really roll and he was connected well enough to quickly book the band at a large venue in Phoenix, the Avalon Ballroom and Fillmore West in San Francisco, and the Whisky A-Go-Go in Los Angeles. At The Whisky, all of the major record labels showed up and then made offers to sign the band to a recording contract. They were the first Colorado band to solidly break into the national music scene since Glenn Miller in the 1930’s.The band's 1969 debut release, ‘ZEPHYR’ (affectionately referred to as the ‘Bathtub’ album) on ABC/Probe, reached #38 on the Billboard Hot 100 album chart March 14, 1970. ZEPHYR were renowned for the charismatic performances of Candy Givens combined with the masterful guitar work of Tommy Bolin and their live shows earned them the right to play on the same stages as big league players such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Santana, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Steely Dan, Jethro Tull, Albert King, Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, Chuck Berry, Willie Dixon, Big Mama Thornton, John Lee Hooker, Three Dog Night, Santana, Steve Miller, Love, Moby Grape, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart and the Small Faces, Spirit, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, The Staples Singers, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Leon Russell, along with many more – don’t want to be known as namedroppers so we’ll leave it at that. The band appeared on American Bandstand January 31, 1970 lip-syncing to ‘Cross the River’. They made other television appearances around the U.S. and Canada.1970 saw the departure of Robbie Chamberlin and the addition of Bobby Berge to the lineup.  Bobby’s drum style was more forceful than Robbie’s and the band developed a heavier rock approach while venturing further afield in their jazz fusion explorations.  

1971 saw the release of ‘GOING BACK TO COLORADO, (recorded at Jimi Hendrix’ then brand new studio, ELECTRIC LADY in New York City with Eddie Kramer as producer) and while tracks such as ‘Showbizzy’ and ‘See My People Come Together’ were similar in style to their previous release, the album took a notably more experimental direction, best epitomized on tracks such as ‘Night Fades Softly’ and ‘At This Very Moment’. The lack of the ‘big breakthrough’ combined with questionable management saw the band fracture in early 1971, with Bolin and Berge leaving to form local Colorado fusion band, ENERGY, though both returned for the 1973 reunion to perform and record the much lauded ‘ZEPHYR LIVE at Arts Bar & Grill’ live album, which was eventually released in 1997 via the Tommy Bolin Archives).Warner Brothers denied the band's request to change the name of the band to ‘THE B's’, so a much-revitalized ZEPHYR continued with the new line-up of Candy and David Givens, Jock Bartley (guitar and vocals), Michael Wooten (drums and percussion), John Alfonse (hand drums) and Daniel Smyth (organ and piano). ‘SUNSET RIDE, ZEPHYR's cult classic 2nd album for Warner Brothers Records, recorded in late 1971 and released in 1972, was the band's best performance on record, with Candy Givens displaying her gifts as a singer, composer, pianist, vocal arranger, and harmonica player. The album was produced by David Givens after several months of rehearsal on a Colorado farm. 2021 saw the release of a reimagined ‘SUNSET RIDE’, with David completely remixing the entire album from the original multitrack tapes and releasing a limited-edition package complete with new sleeve design and an accompanying 12-page booklet. Bartley went on to a successful career with Gram Parsons and Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee, Firefall, while Michael Wooten went on to play for several years with Carole King and was a founding member of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame inductee, jam band ‘Leftover Salmon’.

Despite being blackballed by Barry Fey, ZEPHYR continued to write original music and perform at college concerts, dive clubs, ski towns, weddings, and on flatbed trucks in Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Utah until Candy permanently left the auditorium in 1984. The release of ‘HEARTBEAT’ in 1982 was promoted with a music video that incorporated the first examples of CGI combined with live action in history. Other ZEPHYR members include well known blues man Otis Taylor, who played bass, harmonica, and sang during the mid-1970s, Kenny Wilkins (guitar), master bassist, Rocky Duarte, and blues man Eddie Turner, who played guitar in the last version of the band during the early 1980s.

Candy and David Givens, Bolin, and Faris were founding members of Boulder’s most popular and infamous cover band, The Legendary 4Nikators in 1970. Otis Taylor and Eddie Turner were later additions to the band. Taylor was noted for playing motorcycle on stage during ‘Leader of the Pack’ and performing in a kilt and Turner for his renditions of Jimi Hendrix and Sam Cooke songs, choreography, and backup singing with David and Candy.

In 2014, David Givens and record producer Greg Hampton released a limited edition boxed set that included a remastered version of the bathtub album – two albums of live material (most of it previously unreleased), and a booklet with liner notes by David and photos from his private collection. A similar reworking of ‘GOING BACK TO COLORADO, was released in 2016 – again a Givens/Hampton collaboration, and 2021 saw the aforementioned release of the remixed ‘SUNSET RIDE’.

ZEPHYR was finally inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame in 2019 after many years of unfulfilled promises.