Crow - Crow Music (1969)

Black Sabbath's debut album was most notable for its original songs but did feature two well-executed covers. An extended version of The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation's "Warning" ends the album, and "Evil Woman", a 1969 hit by Minnesota band Crow, was the album's only UK single.

Many musicians of the mid-1960s Minneapolis music scene went in and out of band line-ups trying out different sounds and looking for that next top 20 hit that would propel the scene to a national audience. At the behest of local manager David Anthony, South 40 formed in 1967 as an amalgam of members from local favorites The Rave-Ons and The Jokers Wild. The group got their biggest break after winning an audience with Columbia Records in a "contest for rock bands" in Des Moines.

The band changed their name to Crow (after all, who doesn't love bands named for birds), but Columbia didn't pick up their option because they were "a little bit too funky for them" according to bassist Larry Wiegand. The band also featured David Wagner on vocals, Dave "Kink" Middlemist on organ, and Larry Wiegand on guitar. Harry Nehls originally contributed his skills on the drums, but he left to join another Minneapolis group T.C. Atlantic. The band replaced him briefly with Mike Malasgar and finally filled the vacancy with Denny Craswell previously of Minneapolis one-hit wonder (one of the many) The Castaways.

Their growing stock was noticed by Dunwich Productions A&R man Bob Monaco who began shopping the band around to potential record labels. Although they had a potential audience with Atlantic Records, Crow was signed with the much smaller Amaret records though they eventually proved unable to "cover" them. On top of that, Amaret overlayed a horn section to some of Crow's tracks in post-production against their will. Still, the group decided to play along just to get their first album on the shelves. The band's first single "Time to Make a Turn" was unsuccessful on the charts. Finally listening to the band's input, Amaret put out "Evil Woman" as the album's second single which went on to hit the top 20 of the Billboard 200 in 1969. Later that year, Crow would change its base of operations to Chicago, play every possible gig, and eventually tour on a national stage.

Their debut album Crow Music sold well in due part to the success of "Evil Woman". Although the band complained about the alteration to their music, the horn section can only be heard on their two singles and b-side "Gonna Leave a Mark". The rest of the album ranges in style from heavy blues to R&B, but the sonic foundation comes from Crow's garage rock, Minneapolis roots.

Here is the discography surrounding Crow's debut album:

Baby Don't Love Me (1965 single as The Rave-Ons)
I Want You to Love Me (1965 single as The Rave-Ons)
Love Pill (1966 single as The Rave-Ons)
All I See Is You (1967 single by Jokers Wild)
Good Lovin' (1967 single as South 40)
Because I'm Free (1968 single by Jokers Wild)
I Want Sunshine (1968 single as South 40)
Live at Someplace Else! (1968 live album as South 40)
Peace Man (1969 single by Jokers Wild)
Crow
Time to Make a Turn (1969 single)
Evil Woman (1969 single)
Liquid Giraffe (2013 compilation album by Jokers Wild)



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