LEVIATHAN

  OPENING FOR ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

ALEX COOLEY'S ELECTRIC BALLROOM- ATLANTA, GA

Left to Right: Kenny Smith; Wayne Bradley; Grady Trimble

John Sadler:; Don Swearingen; Bill Taylor Sparks

Front Row:  Shof Beavers; Pete Richardson

                  

 SIGNING LEVIATHAN TO M.O.C. RECORDS

      

 

 

 This six piece group was "The Moody Blues "of the South. We spent a lot of time in the studio getting their first album out. Their subject matter was on the dark side but had some commercial value to it. The lead singer Pete Richardson was one of the best singers I ever heard.  He played organ as well. A note : Leviathan had three keyboard players guitar; bass and percussionist. Wayne Bradley, the bass player also shared in the vocals and even though his vocal instrument wasn't as polished as Pete's, he had a unique style. Grady Trimble played guitar and was the heart throb of the group. He was a serious artist and handled a lot of their art work. Don Swearingen was the arranger, keyboard. Don was a classical pianist, who joined a rock and roll band. He brought a formal atmosphere to the band. John Sadler was another keyboard player adding the melatron to the mix.  What a strange instrument the melatron was.  You had to handle it with kid gloves. Shof Beavers was the percussionist, note I didn't say drummer, he was a schooled percussionist and he approached each song as a percussion piece instead of a song with a drum parts.  His drums were hard to record.  He had all the heads, top and bottom, on the drums and had no muffle, in other words, they were bright  and rang out a lot.  We spent many hours getting a sound that was satisfactory to both Shof and me.

A second LP was recorded called "The Life Cycle" and we hope to put it out there for you later.  It was a drastic change from the first LP. The CD you hear here was recorded in the new 16 track studio at Royal Studios.  It got pick hits in several trades journals including Billboard. Leviathan went on the road and were opening act for Electric Light Orchestra at Alex Cooleys' Electric Ballroom in Atlanta.  I got to go on that road trip with them as our sound mixer was doing the National Guard weekend.  It was a real trip.  FYI: you can find their first LP (CD now) out there in cyber space as it has been bootlegged by AKARMA RECORDS. I read their description on the net of this LP and they made so errors in their copy so I wrote them but never heard back. I guess bootlegging is a form of compliment but to tell you the truth it sucks. I digress again. This is a really good group from Little Rock, Arkansas with exceptional vocals and intricate arrangements listen and enjoy.

 

               HC-112

1.  SEAGULL   SAMPLE

2. ANGEL OF DEATH   SAMPLE

3. QUICKSILVER CLAY   SAMPLE

4. ARABESQUE

5. ANGELA

6. ENDLESS DREAM

7. ALWAYS NEED YOU

 

  TO PURCHASE HC-112   "LEVIATHAN"